Nineteen
by zArkham
Summary: Padmé, Anakin and Leia all did some pretty impressive things by 19. But what about Luke? Canonically he was playing with his model T-16 back on Tatooine. Yet what exploits could he have possibly done on such a desolate planet? Nothing…except maybe take over Jabba's criminal empire! **Very AU** w/elements & some characters of SG-1, BSG 2.0, Dune and the original KOTOR games.
1. Unintended Consequences

**DISCLAIMER THE FIRST** : If it relates to _Star Wars_ , _SG-1_ , _Battlestar Galactica_ or _Dune_ , you can bet I don't own any of it nor will I be making any money off it. Nope, not a dime even if I did grow up in the same town, went to the same high school and junior college that George Lucas did. More the pity.

 **PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : " _In 1965 Vietnam seemed like just another foreign war, but it wasn't; It was different in many ways, as so were those that did the fighting. In World War II the average age of the combat soldier was twenty-six. In Vietnam he was nineteen_ " **– Paul Hardcastle** – British composer, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. (1957- )

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 04-24-2017

 **XxXxX**

 **STORY NOTE** : The basic idea for this came from seeing the odd 'low-tech' approach one sees in Star Wars (especially in the Knights of the Old Republic) and how that sort of was mirrored in the Dune universe. By combining a bit of lore from SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica (more of the reboot than the original) you get a bit more of a cohesive reason for the weird mix-mash of high and low tech seen in Star Wars. It also will help explain the odd, "Your droids! We don't serve their kind here" from A New Hope along with why or why can't R2 type droids speak normally?

The story concept itself came from a Facebook meme stating that Amidala, Anakin and Leia all had done lots of stuff by the time they were 19 whereas Luke was sitting around playing with his model of his T-16. I wrote that about the only thing Luke could have done on Tatooine was somehow take over Jabba's criminal empire. I then pointed out that now that I brought that idea up that I should write a fan-fic about it. So I am.

 **STORY WARNING** : For quite a bit of this story will be interspersed with exposition by the soul of who once was Princess Irulan. This will give the back-story of how my version of the combined SW/SG-1/BG/Dune universe got to be the way it is. Don't blame me if you skip it and get confused.

 **XxXxX**

 **CHAPTER ONE – UNINTENDED CONSEQENCES**

 **XxXxX**

" _With the Force, all things are possible." While this did not beco_ _me known for countless generations, the Force has always been with us and within us. Long ago, before the time when this soul was embodied to the daughter of the Emperor Adama IV, the Force might as well been described as the fortune of the Gods as much as it was understood._

 _Fantastical powers through mystical training had been a tradition (and legend) among humans since the beginning of recorded history as far back as Old Earth. But by the time of the Stargate Diaspora, all that was left was the legends. Even the actual rare occurrence of someone (usually a child) manifesting the Force was explained away or ignored as an urban myth._

 _In this age, there are many who believe that sensitivity to the Force in humans is why the race was spread throughout the galaxy. Some theorize that humans were genetically altered by the Ancients (now known as the Rakata of the Infinite Empire) to be Force sensitive and thus more useful servants. Whatever the truth, the facts show that the Force has always been with us even when we ignored the signs._

 _Regardless of the reason for our Force sensitivity, humans have been one of the driving forces in our galaxy. And yet even after all the millennia, the original home of man, Earth, is still lost. The Twelve Colonies location also remain a mystery as even with the few gates still in use cannot connect to humanity's oldest homes. Much of the original data on Earth's Stargate was lost during the initial Cylon revolt. Even more was lost in the following Cylon Wars._

 _However the mass casualties of those wars bore unexpected fruit. The unlocking of the human genome prior to the Diaspora gave hope that through eugenics and cloning, the losses could be replaced and perhaps even so called 'trans-humans' could be created to help fight the Cylons. If they could not defeat machines with other machines perhaps the Cylons could be defeated by a more enhanced type of human._

 _Thus many groups, often with strong religious views, began to explore eugenics and selective breeding. It was the Bene Gesserit Order who first began to unlock some of the old secrets of the Force. Yet those early witches misread what was in front of them. Even so, their breeding program and others help stave off disaster at first and brought about the creation of the Mentats. Their mental abilities gave the Colonials a way to lessen their dependence on computers which the Cylons had proven able to hack again and again. Cloned soldiers help bolster the ranks of humanity enough so that the Colonies felt victory against the machines was finally in their grasp._

 _The Cylons, however, used cloning against humanity by putting Cylon consciousness into cloned bodies. This allowed the infiltration of the Colonies which led made the last Cylon War less of a conflict and more of a one-sided slaughter. What had been the servant and apprentice had risen up to become the master. Within a matter of days, the humans of the Twelve Colonies faced total extinction._

 _The survivors of the Purge fled to the stars with whomever and whatever they could. With them was Luka McQuarrie, a woman who many saw as insane or dealing with an unknown form of autism. Little did the kind family which refused to leave Luka behind know that they would be responsible for their own salvation._

 _Contrary to what the Bene Gesserit believed, they did little in terms of awakening the Force but merely were the first to listen again. Luka had been seen as an embarrassing failure by the Bene Gesserit Order but in that failure, Luka had been opened up to a greater power._

 _Once again the Force was with humanity even if humans did not realize it. While initially successful in escaping Colonial space, the rag-tag fleet following the Battlestar Galactica soon found themselves pursued. At first the hardy veterans kept the Cylons at bay but soon found themselves truly stuck between two certainties of death. Death by the very machines they had created or inevitable death by having to make almost blind jumps into uncharted hyperspace._

 _As the Cylon fleet neared and the first certainty of death loomed, the fleet desperately fought to gain time to make a partial attempt at charting a safe jump. In doing so, they crafted and even more desperate plan to use the Battlestar Pegasus as a enormous mine to attempt to destroy as much of the Cylon fleet as possible._

 _It was at this point, the Force working through Luka seemed to intervene. Addled by premonitions and images she could not understand, Luka still managed to convince Adama's daughter Athena to let her link to the navigational computers. Direct mind-to-machine interfaces were still new but had proved a promising counter to Cylon hacking._

 _With her mind burning with Forces visions, Luka linked all the remaining ships to the Galactica and began the jump just as the Pegasus exploded and with it the Cylon fleet. Was this extra burst of energy what threw the ships so far? Or was the Force working through Luka to bring them to their destiny? To this day no one knows and Luka died in the process and no hint of a Force ghost of her has ever been recorded._

 _When reverting to normal space, the survivors marveled at what their instruments were telling them. They had jumped so far, the stars themselves were different. Who knew what they might find in this new sector of space? Filled with new purpose, the fleet limped to the nearest habitable planet. Imagine their surprise then when the desolate planet they arrived at was already inhabited by human beings!_

 _ **Musings in The Force**_ _– Princess Irulan as spoken to Winter Celchu_

 **XxXxX**

 **LARS HOMESTEAD, TATOOINE, 11 BBY– EVENING**

Darth Vader watched as the flames devouring the home of his step-brother sent up dark smoke to obscure the dying rays of the two setting suns. He searched his feelings but found nothing. No remorse, no satisfaction and certainly no regret. After killing so many younglings, killing the people he barely knew, even if they were family, wasn't much in the grand scheme of things.

Besides his master had decided that Vader needed to clean up all the ties that bound him to Anakin Skywalker. While the Jedi had been pilloried in the histories written after the Jedi Purge, Anakin Skywalker supposedly died defending Palpatine from Mace Windu and the other Jedi who had gone to arrest the Chancellor.

Until recently there hadn't been anyone to question this but there had been two signs of trouble of late. Hints of a possible rebel faction against the Empire's rule had begun to seem more real of late. Among those rebels were certainly some of the Jedi who had survived and had yet to be hunted down. The propaganda value of the release of Vader's previous life was something both he and his master wished to not come about.

Secondly Darth Sidious had decided that Darth Bane's Rule of Two was absurd. Thus the growth of the new Sith Order meant new acolytes to the Dark Side. With that came competition and ambition. While Vader had expected problems when Asajj Ventress reappeared, she seemed not to care that he was once her enemy Anakin Skywalker. For all his changes, Ventress knew his Force signature too well to be fooled by his protective armor.

Of course Vader felt much of Ventress' reluctance to reveal his former identity was that his master still viewed her with suspicion and she knew it. No, it was the newer acolytes and many of the Inquisitorius filled with ambition who might be tempted to use the knowledge of his previous identity if discovered. So Vader had used a fleet exercise to visit various places tied to Anakin Skywalker to further muddle any ties leading to Darth Vader.

The Lars were the last of such ties. Luckily hyperspace travel into and out of the Tatooine system was difficult and so Vader was able to disguise the visit as training to give Star Destroyer crews experience with star systems with difficult gravitic conditions which made places like Tatooine favored by smugglers. What better place to base out of then areas where even a single Star Destroyer had to make careful extra jump calculations each time? The smaller smuggler ships could get into and out of hyperspace long before most Imperial ships could do so.

Vader smiled behind his mask. That it was difficult was common knowledge but obviously difficult did not mean impossible. Besides the training, it was always good to remind such local tyrants as Jabba the Hutt that they existed because the Emperor didn't feel any need to have them exterminated. He was sure Jabba was even now hiding out somewhere in the Jutland Wastes on his sand-barge worrying that the orbiting fleet might open fire on his castle at any moment.

Vader's smile faded as something brushed up against his senses. Vader slowly turned as he ignored the stormtroopers preparing for their departure. Finally looking out towards where the Dune Sea filled the horizon, Vader paused. He thought he'd felt something, something familiar.

Something he hadn't felt in a long time.

He cast his senses out but found nothing. Yet Vader persisted. Growing up on Tatooine made the Sith well aware how difficult the planet could be. The planet's Force signature could only be described as prickly. Out past the rocky plateaus there was the ever present danger of the Tusken and the Worms. While not as enormous as their ancestors on Arrakis, most Tatooine Worms still were massive enough to swallow an adult bantha with ease. Likewise, the Tuskens might not be as fanatical and skilled as the legendary Fremen, those who took the danger of the Tusken raiders lightly usually had their water taken and their bodies tossed into the nearest sarlaac pit.

Then there was the Spice Mélange.

Again, not as prevalent as on Arrakis or even Jakku or Varadan, Tatooine produced enough Spice to make an impact on the Force. While Emperor Palpatine had declared the old orders such as the Bene Tleilax to be disbanded, like the Jedi Order, the witches of the the Bene Gesserit Order were to be brought to the Imperial Palace to be executed.

Of course that is what the public had been told. Vader knew his master gave any Bene Gesserit a choice of joining his secret group of soothsaying witches or be crucified and have their bodies hung on the Imperial Promenade as a warning to others. Surprisingly few accepted the offer and early on after the Jedi Purge, the promenade had been filled with the decaying bodies of the witches who had refused his master.

Vader also knew many who did accept were tested and most ended up in the new Inquisitorius. Only a handful were senior handmaidens and only one Reverend Mother which had formed a secret group reporting directly to the Emperor. While divination with the Force was something Darth Sidious was an expert at, history had shown Force users that Spice often brought a unique view on upcoming events. Darth Sidious was anything but careful and his success at bringing down the Jedi Order and forming the Galactic Empire proved it. He would not turn down a power even one he mostly scoffed at.

Vader himself was of two minds regarding Spice. It certainly affected one's Force abilities and most Jedi and Sith had felt it damaging to those abilities. Yet Vader himself grew up surrounded by it. Not enough to change his eyes but still present in his system. Did he not surpass so many of the Jedi in power? Did Palpatine not seek him out for his affinity with the Force?

Thus Vader himself kept abreast of anything Spice related even as he searched for lost Bene Gesserit lore as much as he did that of the Sith. He had already come upon something which might bring about a change in his burnt condition. A change that for now he kept to himself.

Vader continued to stretch his senses out but finally withdrew back to himself. The feeling of something was still there but it had faded into the background. Searching his feelings, Vader admitted that while he felt no remorse due to Owen Lars' death, how could he not be affected by being here once again? Wasn't it from this very spot that he had left his beloved Padmé to rescue Shmi from the Tusken raiders who had captured her? Hadn't the following slaughter begun to open his eyes to the power of the Dark Side?

Vader turned and made his way to the commander of his guards. It had been nostalgia, nothing more.

 **XxXxX**

 _That humans were already on Arrakis had been a shock to those of the rag-tag fleet. Finding out that there was life beyond Earth was shocking enough without it being other humans. Of course the even larger shock was these humans shared the galaxy with hundreds of alien species. Certainly the existence of the Stargate seemed conclusive proof of other sentient species, but for all their time living in the Twelve Colonies, beyond the gates themselves, no evidence of aliens had ever found. To suddenly find themselves in a part of the galaxy littered with intelligence species was at first overwhelming._

 _Accompanying this feeling of shock was fear. What would become of them now? Had they traded salvation from the Cylons only to be quickly taken advantage of or even enslaved? At first glance, the refugees from the Twelve Colonies were at a severe disadvantage. However it soon became apparent that this was not the case. Their new neighbors and rivals had better hyperspace technology and well mapped hyperspace lanes but the technology the Colonials brought with them was more advanced than the current galactic standard._

 _Added to this was the Fremen. Many times various corporations and even empires had tried to conquer Arrakis. They all failed. The Colonials, however, did not come as conquerors but refugees. Added to this was that by a quirk of Fate or perhaps the Force itself, much of traditions of the Bene Gesserit order married up with many Fremen legends and prophecies. Thus they were much more welcoming to the refugees than they might have been._

 _It also helped that Colonists decided that Arrakis (nicknamed 'Dune' by the Colonials) was too inhospitable to attempt any sort of long-term colonization. Flying in the face of what was considered accepted wisdom by the galaxy at large, the Colonials terraformed the next planet out from Arrakis and named it Secundus. This act help make the Colonials look foolish to the eyes of the galaxy at large. Why terraform a marginal planet when there were so many good planets a hyperspace jump away? This initial action of thinking the new humans were stupid and harmless actually helped keep attention away from the Colonials at a critical time. That the planet they were terraforming was a nasty piece of work helped._

 _Even now, centuries after the terraformation's completion, Secundus (subsequently renamed Salusa) remains a cold, harsh world. A fitting twin to the hot, harsh Arrakis. From this planet along with domed cities on the two moons of Dune and other bodies in the system, the Colonials pondered their options and looked at the galaxy around them for their next step._

 _The Force favored them once again as the galaxy was in a state of flux as an old Empire was in the process of falling apart into warring factions. Sensing a rare opportunity, the Colonials took action. With the promise of sharing their superior technology, the Colonials took up with one of the weakest factions. With their help, this faction became powerful but it rapidly became apparent that working with the Colonials had been a deal with the devil. The one time hopeful to become the next Emperor found himself deposed as the Colonials took control of his forces and the systems under his control._

 _Soon the former refugees had carved out their own Empire led by Adama the First. Yet the Emperor was no tyrant as his power was limited by the Landsraad. This was a council created out of the factions of the Twelve Colonies. As each group gravitated towards certain types of planets brought into the Empire, new powers emerged as well. So out of the pool of Picon refugees came House Atreides of Caladan just as those from Tauron became House Harkonnen of Giedi Prime._

 _After a turbulent beginning, the new Empire was at peace with the other governments that had grown out of the previous Empire. Yet almost from the beginning there were seeds of trouble. The ancestors of the Jedi and Sith looked at the Bene Gesserit Order with suspicion as they quickly took the Spice Mélange into their plans. They were even more concerned as warriors trained in their weirding way were feared. That many of them were Fremen who had left Arrakis to try test their mettle made them even more dangerous. Whether empire, trade confederation or republic, the neighbors of the new Colonial Empire were nervous._

 _Conversely the denizens of the new Colonial Empire looked at the hordes of droids used throughout the galaxy with deep mistrust. They found it hard to believe the assurances that droids were incapable of revolt. The scars born from their war with the Cylons they themselves had inadvertently created ran deep. By the time of my father, Adama the Fourth, this mutual distrust would erupt into a galaxy wide war. A jihad whose affects lingers to this present day._

 _ **Musings in The Force** – Princess Irulan as spoken to Winter Celchu_

 **XxXxX**

 **DUNE SEA, APPROXIMATELY 136km FROM THE LARS HOMESTEAD, TATOOINE, 11 BBY– NIGHT TIME**

Luke was just a young boy.

And right now he was a very scared young boy.

Within the last few hours, Luke's simple life on a moisture farm had come crashing down into chaos. Previously the biggest excitement in his life had been the occasional sighting of a Worm while standing on Hamyl Ridge overlooking the Dune Sea while watching his uncle work on a moisture vaporator. That and the immense sand-crawlers of visiting Jawas. There had even been that scary night when a group of Tuskens had ridden up to the perimeter on their banthas. Luke had been so scared but Uncle Owen had fearlessly walked out, talked for awhile and the Tuskens had left.

Luke would trade the fear he'd felt that night for what was going on now. The surprise when he had been woken up in his bed by a frantic Ben Kenobi. The confusion as he had been hustled out with barely the clothes on his back into a speeder. The fear as men in white armor had swarmed around his home, red bolts of death bright in the twilight gloom. The horror at the cries of his Uncle and Aunt and the sight of a black-armored figure watching from a nearby dune. The feeling of helplessness as Ben Kenobi had been wounded by an errant blaster bolt. The despair at watching the man pass out and wondering where the speeder was auto-programmed to go.

Now Luke was feeling terror. Straight up terror as the speeder had finally stopped in front of a home along a ridge on the edge of the Dune Sea. The problem was almost as soon as the speeder had stopped, out of the gloom and into the light cast by the single door glow was a group of Tusken atop their banthas.

Luke knew the stories of what Tuskens often did to the likes of him. While not as fanatical as the fabled Fremen of Arrakis, the Tusken of Tatooine held enough to their ancestors ways that often the only value one such as Luke had to the raiders was for the water in his body.

Luke's heart seemed to jump into his throat as Ben Kenobi groaned and sat up from where he had been slumped against the speeder's control wheel during the journey.

"Sir? Now would be a good time to wake up," Luke pleaded.

Without opening his eyes, Ben let out a groan, "Calm yourself, young Skywalker. I was merely in a healing trance. There is nothing to fear now that we are at my home."

Luke looked out at the Tusken who seemed to be simply watching, "Um…tell that to the Tuskens!"

Kenobi's eyes snapped open and he quickly looked at the scene around him. As he did, it felt to Luke as if the Tusken snapped from careful boredom to hyper-alertness. Almost all drew weapons.

"Blast!" Kenobi said and went to reach for a button on the speeder's console but reared back in pain. Luke saw the old man's side was drenched in blood.

"Give up Force user! There is no where to run. No trick you can pull. It has been foreseen that Ben Kenobi dies this day! A momentous day! A day filled with change for the Tusken! Do not dishonor your warrior days with weakness. We shall make your death quick in honor of those days when your blade was feared throughout the space-ways. You water will be cherished. Do not taint it with fighting a battle you cannot win!"

Kenobi hissed at the words which rang out from the gloom. Luke looked again at the wound in the old man's side and his heart sank. The Tusken was right; the old man looked in a bad way. But what did he mean calling Ben a Force user? Did that mean he was a Jedi? They all had been killed; hadn't they?

All around them, the Tusken began a weird breathy chant which sounded like a deeper version of a moisture vaporator bleeding off too much pressure.

Ben took some deep breaths before reaching down to a compartment between him and Luke. Popping it open, he took out a silver cylinder. He gave it to Luke who took it without a word. From countless vid-shows and history lessons from Aunt Beru, Luke knew it was a lightsaber. Did that mean old Ben Kenobi was a Jedi? A real life Jedi?

"Luke," Ben wheezed, "I'm sorry; I've failed you. I've failed you like I failed Master Jinn and little Asoka and how I failed, oh how I failed your father. Please, I know there is little chance for you, my boy but I had to give you this. It was your father's lightsaber. I know your uncle told you he was a pilot on a freighter but that was a lie. Your father, Anakin Skywalker was once a great Jedi warrior and a good friend. He…he died and I know that Anakin would have wanted you to hold his lightsaber if only for a moment before the end. I am sorry that you never got the chance to learn its ways and take up the mantle of the Force that is your birthright."

Luke looked into the blue eyes of the old Jedi (because Luke realized that the man he knew as simply Ben Kenobi was actually General Obi-Wan Kenobi, famous Jedi general of the Clone Wars) and which meant Luke's father was the martyr hero known as the Jedi Without Fear.

Ben coughed up some blood and whispered, "I'm so sorry" before slumping unconscious once more against the steering controls.

The sound of the raiders chant increased and a few had begun to cry out in the rarely heard (and always feared) ululating battle cry. Even their banthas began to stamp their feet and snort in excitement.

Luke looked down at his father's lightsaber. His father. The man he'd been told had died in a hyperspace accident but who had died in battle if the histories were to be believed. He looked at the wounded Jedi and then back out to the Tusken, many who were know pumping their gaffi sticks in the air. Most outlanders thought them weapons and while they could be used as such, Luke knew their primary purpose was used to ride the Worms.

Mindful of what the Tusken leader had said and what Luke knew of the Tusken, he climbed out of the speeder and faced where he thought leader's voice had come from. He thumbed what he prayed was the on switch and was rewarded with the snap-hiss as the saber ignited in blue brilliance. He thrust out his left leg and balanced his weight on a bent right leg. Luke held the lightsaber in both hands so that it was positioned horizontally before his face. Somehow this position felt natural and so Luke took a deep breath and waited.

He knew he was going to die. Luke knew if he was very lucky his actions might bring him a quick death and hopefully as painless as possible. Yet Luke felt strangely energized. As he glared defiantly at the Tuskens around him, Luke felt as if some greater force than himself was pleased with his actions.

For a moment there was silence as the chanting and war chants stilled. Even the banthas went still. Finally a voice cried out, "Bogdan, you know the Law! What are we waiting for? Let us take their water, Naib, and then be gone from this place!"

Luke managed to keep from flinching at this but still had to bite his lip to do it.

The leader's voice called out, "I do not need _you_ to tell me the Law, Artiom! But this…"

"…this is something beyond the Law. This is prophecy fulfilled! Bogdan, we must bring this boy back to the Sayyadina," called out a woman's voice. One filled with steel and pain.

Around Luke, the Tusken began to whisper excitedly amongst themselves. Yet to his right a raider jumped off his bantha, drew the crysknife from his belt and advanced on Luke. "No fancy Force wielder's blade is going to keep me from taking your water, whelp! It is the Law."

"Artiom! Stop! I command it!" cried out Bogdan in anger.

The Tusken ignored his leader and closed on Luke with his crysknife held in one hand crossed over his body with his other arm to form an X. Luke knew from stories his Uncle told that this stance was used to confuse an opponent on whether the Tusken was going to attack with the blade or strike with his hand. While the weirding way of the original Fremen, so feared during the anti-droid Butlerian Jihad, had mostly been lost, no long-time resident of Tatooine ignored the dangers of facing a Tusken in hand-to-hand combat.

Without a conscious thought, Luke switched his stance. He didn't know why, but now his form felt better prepared to deal with the Tusken who was almost upon him. Yet in a flash, his opponent had problems of his own.

From out of the gloom came a swift, shimmering rush descended upon Artiom. The Tusken warrior tried to turn to meet this new threat but in another flash of shimmering movement, Luke watched as Artiom reeled from multiple blows and quickly sank unconscious into the sands.

Suddenly to Luke's left, away from easy reach of his lightsaber, the shimmering coalesced into that of another Tusken; a woman if the style of her armored stillsuit was anything to go by. Her piecing blue Spice-converted eyes seem to glow from behind the traditional Tusken mask as she looked down at him.'

"Put that down, boy. You will not be harmed as much as my blood wishes otherwise. That blade drank the blood of all of my clan but me. So I'd very much like to gut you and let your water be wasted upon sands. Yet in a sick twist of fate, it seems you are the Chosen One. The one to bring us into a new age and bring balance to the Force," the woman said in a gravely voice Luke thought sounded like his uncle's father before he died.

The Tusken leader Bogdan made his way to where the Tusken woman stood, "Ksenia! What is the meaning of this?"

Ksenia turned and stared down the irate raider, "Meaning? There is no meaning! There is Fate. Fate has brought this boy to us. Fate is in the making. And it is our fate to bring this boy to the Sayyadina. For through Fate and the Force, if he is the Chosen One, then tonight our people's road to long lost glory begins!"

The surrounding Tusken suddenly began to shout questions which then quickly turned into a chanting mob in a language Luke knew to be the original Fremen tongue which even the best protocol droid only knew snatches of.

The leader raised a clenched fist and screamed out an order in that same tongue. When silence again descended upon them, he let it continue for a moment. The silence of the desert seemed almost unnatural to Luke at that moment. So much so that it seemed his swiftly beating heart might as well be loud enough to attract a Worm.

Finally Bogdan turned from what almost seemed to be a staring match between himself and Ksenia to look at Luke. "As she said, boy; turn that off. You may keep it for now but as Ksenia has said. That blade has drunk deep in Tusken blood. While we may admire a warrior's heart and skill in battle, we are not one to forget or forgive. So be mindful of what you do or say. As Sister Ksenia has said, you will be brought before our Sayyadina. It will be she who will decide if we take your water or not. Do you understand?"

Luke began to nod before he fumbled to turn off the lightsaber before nodding furiously again, "Yes, sir. Yes sir, I do."

Bogdan looked at Luke for a moment before turning back to his warriors, "Loot the building but destroy nothing! If this boy is who Ksenia believes him to be then the Jedi might have things useful for the boy's future."

A voice called out from the gloom, "What about the Force wielder?"

Bogdan looked back to the speeder where Kenobi was still slumped unconscious against the steering controls, "Take his water and be quick about it."

Suddenly a swarm of images swam before Luke's mind. Images of Kenobi. He was standing in what looked like a vast field of long yellow grass. The kind Luke had seen on agri-planets in vid-lessons. He was with another man with close-cut hair who was sparing with lightsaber with a dark haired boy only a little older than himself wielding his own oddly shaped lightsaber. In the distance a young, well built woman in colorful armor laughed with an alien the size of a Wookie that Luke didn't recognized. The feeling Luke had earlier had returned. He felt energized like when he had tried a stim-stick filched from his Uncle.

"Wait!" Luke cried out. "You can't take his water!"

All around him the Tusken began to laugh. "And why not, young one?" Bogdan asked.

"I see…I've seen…it's just somehow I know he's supposed to go somewhere else. Somewhere with two other people with lightsabers. They are on a planet of grass," Luke stammered out.

The hooting laughter switched to frantic whispers. Bogdan looked to Ksenia, "Sister?"

Ksenia looked at Luke intently before turning towards the speeder. She took a deep breath and then held her arms out in front of her, palms out and raised them slowly over her head. She held that pose, breathing deeply for a minute or two as silence descended again as everyone watched.

Finally her head snapped up as she dropped her arms. She turned back to Bogdan and Luke, "The boy is right. His end is not here."

A voice cried out, "But the Sayyadina said Ben Kenobi would die this day!" Other voices joined in to cry out their agreement.

Ksenia cut them off with a swift gesture, "Yes she did. But I am her apprentice. I know that foreseeing is never an easy road to the future. Sayyadina Mariya is correct; the Tatooine life of Ben Kenobi is over. Killed unknowingly by his old padawan, battle companion, friend and betrayer. But the boy is right; the Jedi still has a role to play. To do so he must become Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Master once again. Bind his wounds and get him into his home. I am sure he will have the necessary bacta available to keep him healthy enough to survive. With his charge lost to him, he will leave and thus Ben Kenobi will cease to exist."

Ksenia turned and looked down at Luke. "I have a feeling that you and Kenobi will meet again. However, will you reunite as friends or over crossed sabers?"

Luke gulped as the Tusken woman began to laugh. This laugh chilled him more than the frigid desert air had ever done.

 **XxXxX**

 **A/N** : A lot of back-story via the musings will take awhile. Some of it is story driven, most is world building. For those who have never played KOTOR I or II, it behooves you to read them given how a lot of info from those original games is going to be VERY important to this story.

 **Feel Free to PM Me** : Even though I saw Star Wars first hand in 1977 (and as my disclaimer noted, in George Lucas' hometown) by knowledge of the Expanded Universe is not what it should be. So using Wookipedia and other lore picked up from SW fan-fics, I hope to be as accurate as possible even as I will be making changes. For example, the planets of _Dune_ do not exist in the SW Universe but at this time I'm either adding them or I'm thinking that after the Butlerian Jihad, they changed their names similar to how many towns in America with German names changed them during/after WW I and II. Still if you have a question, comment or think I messed something up, please PM me. I'll take all the help I can get. This also applies to BSG 2.0 which I didn't see too much of and wasn't to thrilled with. Even though I liked what I saw of _Caprica_ , I didn't get to see much of that show either.

 **The Stargates** : Most of the tie-in to SG-1 relates to the gates. The Ancients created them just as they may have manipulated the emerging human's genome. For now, the concept is the Ancients took samples of humans and left the planet fallow. However, later humanity discovered the Stargate. However, they only were able to discover/decipher 12 gate dial-ups which would become the Twelve Colonies. Earth was facing a crisis of some sort so a lot of people left and then contact with Earth was lost. Why? I don't know and right now it probably doesn't affect the story anyway.

 **Reference to SG-Universe** : The reason none of the gates in the SW universe can dial back to the Twelve Colonies is that they don't realize they need to crank out that eighth and ninth chevron positions due to the distance.

 **The Twelve Colonies** : Originally the only way to get to and fro the Colonies was via the Stargate. Later a primitive form of hyperdrive was created. However hyperspace was really dangerous and only through using mathematics related to the Stargate address were hyperspace routes to the other colonies made possible. Unknown at the time was the colonies were actually very close in the real world and in fact where in some ways creations of the Ancients themselves to make travel time smaller.

 **Guild Navigators** : Given the Stargates and technology relevant too them, hyperspace travel was discovered. Therefore the Spacing Guild and its navigators never developed.

 **Fun with Names** : It's always great when things come together like how in my HP stories that 1066 is very close to when Hogwarts was founded. Likewise it's nice that Shadaam and Adama sound rather similar. Of course Luka McQuarrie is another geeky in-joke. Oh if anyone wonders, yes Adama was pretty old by the end of BSG but _Dune_ canon has spice treatments extending life.

 **The Old Republic** : In keeping with how the new KOTOR is seems to be panning out (I don't know because I don't have a computer which can play it) it seems there is a lot of fiddling with what the Old Republic was like. In my thinking, the Republic isn't this thousands of year old government rather many "Republics" have risen and fallen. However like many historical empires, many keep the capitol of the previous regime because it's easier. Thus Coruscant probably was a big mercantile center and then became the center of a new empire/republic. Over time, it continued even as the galaxy's government went through changes. Would Darth Sidious have moved his capitol to someplace like Dromund Kaas or just let inertia keep them it on Coruscant?


	2. Old Wounds

**DISCLAIMER THE FIRST** : If it relates to _Star Wars_ , _SG-1_ , _Battlestar Galactica_ or _Dune_ , you can bet I don't own any of it nor will I be making any money off it. Nope, not a dime even if I did grow up in the same town, went to the same high school and junior college that George Lucas did. More the pity.

 **PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : " _The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal - every other affliction to forget: but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open - this affliction we cherish and brood over in solitude_." – **Washington Irving** – American author, historian and diplomat (1783-1859)

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 04-24-2017

 **XxXxX**

 **CHAPTER TWO – OLD WOUNDS**

 **XxXxX**

 _As the Colonial refugees began to assimilate their new place in the galaxy, they rapidly became very confused. Many common technologies, some with roots going back to Old Earth seemed to be conspicuously absent among the galaxy at large. How could this be? There were literally hundreds of sentient species on just as many worlds. Given the length of galactic history to that point, the amount of time from the first flight on Old Earth to the Stargate Diaspora to the last desperate flight from extinction was a mere blink of time in comparison. It confused them and even their Mentats were at a loss._

 _Of course this confusion went both ways. Visitors wondered why anyone would go through the trouble of creating beings such as the Mentats when droids where cheaper and capable of interfacing easier with technology. Beyond terraforming, concepts like cloning, eugenics and even simple things such as weapons based on explosives were met with confusion. When asked about this, the answer was almost always the same, "We've always done things a certain way and it's for the best."_

 _The Colonials had trouble believing this at first but this way of thinking could be found in their own histories brought from Old Earth, specifically China. An example of a region which mostly had a centralized government throughout history with a large population, it held the key to much of the reason the galaxy at large was the way it was. Firstly large, diverse populations are messy and hard to control. So custom, law and even technology is controlled._

 _A perfect example of this was the common blaster. It requires tibanna gas as the primary component of its ammunition. While not found in every system planet nor easily synthesized, tibanna gas is common enough that it made the perfect ammunition. Deadly and effective with little in the way of a counter, made blasters the weapon of choice to the point where it was almost inconceivable to use anything else kept warfare at a manageable level by keeping a galactic arms race off the table. Of course that is was almost inconceivable was something that the various governments which ruled made sure to promote._

 _Again, the Colonials only had to look back to Old Earth to see how nation-states reacted to insurgents. Anyone armed group which didn't use armored vehicles, wore recognizable, standardize uniforms and the like were branded terrorists even though it was common knowledge that a 'freedom fighter' simply was a rebel/terrorist who was successful. Thus any group using technology against the grain was likewise marginalized by the galactic society at large._

 _While it was said 'build a better mousetrap and the world would beat a pathway to your door' might have applied elsewhere on Old Earth, in China, the mousetrap inventor more often than not might be arrested and their invention suppressed as it upset the delicate balance of things. This was very much a common theme throughout the rise and fall of various galactic empires and has continued into this age. Change means a potential loss of control and when one is trying to keep control of hundreds of world with hundreds of sentient species, then change itself is seen as an enemy._

 _If one could sum up the galactic motto, it would probably be 'if it isn't broke; don't fix it' with the corollary being 'if it was good enough for your grandparents it_ _ **will**_ _be good enough for you….or else.'_

 _Then there was also the very real fact that governing a far-flung empire was difficult enough without systems having their own way of doing things. Thus standardization in almost all things was mandatory. This made innovation difficult because it wasn't enough to change one planet; an invention or concept had to be so useful and so wanted that it could sweep through enough sectors to become the new standard. This was a rare occurrence and almost always happened during war time when needs drove innovation and domestic concerns were swept aside._

 _Another reason for the stagnation was something which the Colonials had not lived through. Again an old Earth adage was apt: the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Sadly in times of galactic strife and turmoil it was the squeaky planet which got the orbital bombardment. There were always planets and species which broke the mold and excelled. Yet time and time again, while they might shine, for the most part their temporary glory generally won them a burnt out planet and often a species brought to the edge of extinction._

 _The Colonials didn't realize that many so called 'Cosmop' planets weren't cosmopolitan due to tolerance but they were havens for races whose home planets had been destroyed and those few remaining alive would find such a Cosmop planet to gather and try to stave off extinction. Luckily once a race becomes embedded in galactic trade, they become very difficult to exterminate completely. Still, many races had gone from billions to mere thousands living on Cosmop worlds, hoping to get enough of a population to resettle on a new planet. Far too often this never would come to pass because they would refuse cloning or other eugenic options due to the galactic conservatism._

 _Even after the Butlerian Jihad brought many of the Colonial technologies into broader awareness, to this day eugenics and cloning is seen as unnatural to the point where in recent history, cloning was almost the sole purview of the Kaminoans. As much as the Republic had used the clones, they were always seen with suspicion by most galactic citizens. Their association with Jedi generals gave credence to the smearing of the Order by the new Emperor Palpatine after the Jedi Purge._

 _Eugenics was mostly left to the remaining pockets of the Bene Gesserit orders who still strove to bring about the ultimate human. So in remote areas they toiled in their quest to create the Kwisatz Haderach (a Fremen term for 'the ascendant ones') in an attempt to fulfill both Fremen and their own Order prophecies. Again and again few used the technologies which might have helped their dying races survive. The tendency to do what always had been done was strong and it doomed many races to extinction._

 _Then there was the fact that humans have always been a forward, progress oriented race. As with every being, the tendency is to project onto others that they will be like you. This was not the case as most sentients, especially those coming from more herbivore roots, were content to live simply and distrusted change. The many hive-mind races made this trend even more so._

 _For a brief time, however, when the new Empire built from the ashes of the Twelve Colonies burst onto the galactic scene with the Butlerian Jihad against droids, they initially swept through the star lanes because they refused to be hampered by what the galaxy felt was proper. At first it seemed that scions of Old Earth might bring low an entire galactic order with their brash and innovated ways and usher in a new age._

 _Sadly for them, China of Old Earth had another historical lesson they might have heeded. "Conquer us," said the Old Chinese. "Conquer us but know that within a generation you will become Chinese and thus cease to be." This ancient parable turned out to be prophetic as the one-time Colonials found it is one thing to conquer a vast galactic empire. But to do so without becoming that what you defeated was the real challenge._

 _ **Musings in the Force**_ _– Princess Irulan as spoken to Winter Celchu_

 **XxXxX**

 **HAMYL SIETCH, SOMEWHERE IN THE DUNE SEA, TATOOINE, 11 BBY– MORNING**

Luke sucked slowly on a food stick as he sat in a corner on the floor. Apparently even the Tusken couldn't make one taste even remotely likable. But it was calories and it had water and Luke knew he needed both. The long trek to the sietch had been rough. Bad enough his enviro-suit was most almost certainly a twisted mass of brunt plastic back at the Lars farm but Luke had never ridden on a bantha or even a dewback before. Thus he was sore in places Luke never realized he had.

All around him the Tusken where shedding their stillsuits (which were much more efficient than the cheap enviro-suits most Tatooine residents wore) and reclaiming water and other resources from those suits. Naked and half-naked men and women paraded around with little thought to modesty. Luke had often heard the Tuskens described as vicious, debauched and even evil made flesh, but seeing them in their homes, they seemed rather boringly normal. Except for their spice tinted eyes, they could pass for any human one saw at Tosche Station.

Luke had known Tusken were human but after years of listening to the horror stories, he realized that he'd internalized that somehow they'd be different when out of their armored stillsuits.

Luke looked down at the lightsaber he had kept at hand ever since Ben…Obi-Wan had given it to him. He felt foolish given that the Naib Bogdan had said he could keep it but Luke kept worrying someone would try and take it. So far the few Tusken youths he had seen had only looked at him curiously but without any real hostility. In that, Luke knew he was lucky.

At least the Lars had been moisture farmers and that was something the Tusken respected given their reverence for water. He knew the Tusken looked down on the city dwellers and harassed them at every opportunity. Even though attacking a homestead like the one Luke had grown up on would be child's play for their warriors, the Tusken at least respected how the moisture farmers worked with the land. That and like the Tusken, moisture farmers respected how quickly the desert could kill you. So for now, Luke knew he had a little bit of give in regards to his captors going for him.

On the other hand, it seemed his father had wiped out a Tusken clan and as the Naib had said, the Tusken were not known for forgetting or forgiving. Still, Luke also knew that as bad as what his father had done (a Jedi at that!) he _did_ attack alone and survived. To fail to acknowledge this feat would be like calling the slain Tusken weaklings and cowards and that wasn't going to happen. So for now Luke felt that as the son of a fearsome warrior and one who grew up on the dunes, he was in a better position than most.

Luke suddenly snorted at this. If he had been anyone else, they would have taken his water back at Kenobi's home.

Suddenly a shadow loomed over him. Luke looked up to see a girl staring down at him. Luke quickly looked away briefly as his position on the floor allowed him to see up the shrift the girl wore. He wasn't sure how old she was, but her breasts were already well developed. The heat on his face told Luke he was blushing.

Spice might tint a Tusken's eyes blue but it did nothing to limit their sight. The girl giggled, "Look at you! How cute! You city types are so hung up on bodies."

Luke shifted and got up, carefully so as to not look like he was trying to get another peek, "Well I've grown up mostly alone. I don't get to see many girls let alone accidentally get flashed by one."

Now that he stood, the Tusken girl was only slightly taller than Luke. He still guessed she was older than he by a few years. Although it was hard to tell. All of the Tusken had a worn, weathered look which made them look old but also rather ageless. For all he knew, this girl might be younger than him or a decade older.

"I am Luke Skywalker; can I help you?" Luke asked.

The girl laughed again, "No, I am here to help you or at least to fetch you. Sayyadina Mariya wishes to see you. I am Sabiha. I am a handmaiden to the Sayyadina."

Luke nodded; he'd been expecting it. "I'm sorry but even though I've lived all my life on the Dune Sea, I don't know much about your people. Do I need to do anything special before going in front of your Reverend Mother?"

Sabiha hissed and looked around to see if anyone had overheard. Seeing no one paying them much heed, she leaned closer to Luke. He found she smelled of crushed meerkeel berries.

"First off, _**never**_ call her that! I know you might think it an appropriate title and yes Sayyadina does translate into Revered Mother. But that title is too associated with the Bene Gesserits and they are proscribed and not spoken of lightly."

Luke frowned. Old galactic history wasn't something Aunt Beru had taught much of. Yet he remembered something about the rift. "Can I ask why? I can't remember but I think I read something about it. Something to do with the worms, right?"

Sabiha nodded, "It was the Bene Gesserit witches who paid smugglers to steal Worms from their home on Arrakis and bring them to planets such as this. They wanted to create their own spice production. They used the Jihad as cover for their thefts. The people of the sand had a choice: keep to our oaths as warriors or abandon the line to defend Shai Hulud."

Now Luke remembered what he had read! "Okay now I remember. Yes it was all about how the Fremen supposedly turned coward and ran from the front causing the Jihad to falter."

Sabiha hissed again, "That's what city-dwellers always have said. The Spice is Life and Shai Hulud guards the Spice and we help guard the Shai Hulud from those who would try turn them into another domestic creature who exists only for what they create that is helpful to man."

Luke held up his hands, "Okay, so besides watching what I say, is there anything else I need to know?"

Sabiha looked him up and down, "You are scrawny and weak. Good tone but still I think my brother could take you and he's not long out from the crèche! Still, there is a power in you. Ksenia says your father was a raging power in the Force. It shines in you as well. So I could bathe you in scented oils and wrap you in proper Tusken clothes but none of that would matter. I think for the Sayyadina, it will be that power which keeps your water safe."

Luke made a wry face, "Good to know. Well lead on; I'd rather get things sorted out. No offense but I'm a bit tense about my status."

Sabiha gave a low laugh, "None taken. I would call you a fool if you weren't. Then again, you are of the dunes and not some water-soaked city weakling. At least you know true danger when you see it. Come, follow me. Oh and I'd suggest you clip that lightsaber to your belt. Not that you could harm the Sayyadina but even we Tusken only carry one personal weapon in her presence."

Luke nodded as he began to follow the Tusken girl as she threaded their way through the tunnels. He clipped his saber onto his utility belt as she asked. Given what he knew from histories, while the Tusken weren't Force users, there were always rumors they had their own powers. Luke knew someone as revered as a Reverend Mother could probably make short work of the likes of him. That and Luke knew he had a better chance of climbing out of a sarlacc's belly that getting out of the sietch alive even if he somehow took the Sayyadina hostage.

For now Luke was just happy that Sabiha seemed to think him worthy enough to live another day. It was worrying enough to go before a Reverend Mother of the Tusken without having to worry about being rendered down for your water and your flesh fed to the womp rats.

Then again, who knew what the Sayyadina might do instead?

 **XxXxX**

 _While it is accepted wisdom that The Great Betrayal was the cause of the Butlerian Jihad to ultimately fail, this simply wasn't the case. Space is vast and the amount of systems the former Colonials took over was more than they could handle on their own. This was compounded by the very purpose of the Jihad: the destruction of droids and any hint of intelligence machine life._

 _So as their troops advanced, my father and the Landsraad were faced with managing not only a larger territory but one which was mostly made up of non-humans. Then they had to do it without the very droids and A.I. systems which had kept the galaxy running for hundred of years. Cloning of Mentats wasn't an option as they usually failed while still in the birthing matrix or became psychotic if forced maturation was used. There was no time to wait to breed Mentats the normal way to meet the demand._

 _Thus in countless systems across the expanded Colonial Empire, system and planetary governors had a mission that was almost impossible to achieve. That is unless they actually used much of the very technology they had set out to destroy they would be unable to keep what they had won. Thus the seeds of defeat where already flowering and bearing fruit before the disaster of having the mass defection of Fremen forces. While the Bene Gesserit plot to move Worms to new desert planets created a huge problem for the admirals and generals, the ground truth was the Jihad was already grinding to a halt through over-extension._

 _Some historians cried conspiracy regarding the governor's actions after the Jihad ended. Today, most scholars view it as politicians or military regents facing similar problems that all come up with the same plan. This all the while thinking they were probably the only ones doing it. Indeed when it was discovered how widespread the problem was, instead of a swift response from the Landsraad, it was the governors and regents who worked together to attack the Landsraad for giving them an impossible mission! Who were the pampered elites of the Landsraad to tell them, the ones dealing first hand with trying to make the expanded Empire work, that they were traitors?_

 _Given that most of the sentients on the conquered planets didn't have a problem with droids in the first place, they fully supported their new leaders in this. For the most part, leaders and empires had come and gone but the common sentient or business interest just want things to run smoothly and the attack on droids and independent computer systems was creating more havoc than the actual Jihad itself had._

 _In the end, the Landsraad was paralyzed and my own father deposed. The new emperor and my husband by political necessity, Paul Atreides of Caladan worked to keep order. It was a thankless task and one which he succeeded at, earning him the title of Paul the Mediator. Sadly he never got to see the fruit of his work due to a Harkonnen poisoned blade in the night. This left me Empress Regent as my twins Leto and Ghanima were still young teens at the time of Paul's assassination._

 _When Leto was finally crowned Leto the First, his first Imperial Edict shocked everyone. He disbanded the moribund Landsraad and then went even further to reorganize the empire into a republic. He then stood up for election and was elected by popular vote and confirmed via the newly created Senate as the first Chancellor of the Galactic Republic._

 _He also made one change that has lasted to this very day. My family and the other refugees of Caprica settled on a marginal planet with nothing but a few automated mining outposts and scattered agri-bases. The planet didn't even have a name and was only known as LV-426. We of Caprica christen it Corinno. After some moderate terraforming, the colony grew quickly. Finding that the original hyperspace lanes were poorly mapped, a new survey was done and an entire hyperspace hub was discovered which connected to some of the most profitable trade routes in the galaxy._

 _By the time of the Butlerian Jihad, Corinno had become one of the biggest commercial hubs of the Empire. By the end of the Jihad, it was the largest. Chancellor Leto felt that a fresh start was needed. He thus decried that Corinno would be renamed Coruscant. Most Colonial worlds followed suit and changed their names as well. Few today know the names Caladan, Giedi Prime or Ix. Leto's new dawn had, in one stroke, marginalized the very people who had created the empire he was changing._

 _Yet to this day, there are many pockets of stubborn Colonials. Those who refused to forget; those who refuse to refer to their home by its new name. They also still look at droids with suspicion. Then there are the Bene Gesserit and other old orders such as Bene Tleilax who are one of the few remaining groups who practice cloning and genetic manipulation._

 _Then of course there are the Fremen and all of their associate tribes like the Tusken on Tatooine who remember. They have not forgotten their oaths and have said that if the heir to the Empire should rise again, the people of Shai Hulud would fight again to honor their old promise. Of course, the Colonial Empire is long dead, buried under the centuries of Republic rule._

 _Of course while the Republic had hard times in the centuries to come, even falling briefly to the control of Darth Revan, it endured. The Republic has been the longest running galactic government, only failing within the last decade. Yet time will tell if the new Galactic Imperium is another blip like Darth Revan's short-lived government or has the centuries long political system of representative government fallen to a new era of Empire?_

 _ **Musings in the Force**_ _– Princess Irulan as spoken to Winter Celchu_

 **XxXxX**

 **DUNE SEA, APPROXIMATELY 136km FROM THE LARS HOMESTEAD, TATOOINE, 11 BBY– AFTERNOON**

Obi-Wan groaned as his head was loudly declaring that it hurt and that it was probably going to keep doing so vindictively for quite some time regardless of whatever Force healing he might try. He groaned again before it hit him.

Why was he even alive?

Obi-Wan's eyes flew open and he stretched out his Force sense only to find himself alone on his bed. Yet there was a powerful presence in the living room. He lifted his head slowly and his eyes darted across the room. He found himself mostly naked with bacta patches liberally applied to his right side. He also noticed that his home had obviously been looted though various items remained.

Before he could make heads or tails of what had happened, the door opened and he couldn't help but take in a sharp intake of breath. Except for maybe Asajj Ventress, Handmaiden Ksenia was about the last person he expected to see. Especially carrying a tray with a bowl of something which made his stomach growl.

Kenobi had few dealings with the Tusken over the years but the hatred the Sayyadina's oldest handmaiden had for him radiated out of the Force like a beacon. He had never been able to find out why since the old Jedi had found the less contact he had with Tusken the better. There had been a few times when a band stumbled out of the dunes after being caught by a rogue storm and bartered for water but mostly they left him to his meditations and learning about the Living Force from the Force ghost of Master Jinn.

Occasionally a band of Fedaykin would come and a young warrior would call him out. He would oblige although he'd never used his lightsaber on anything other than training mode. Surprisingly this didn't anger the Tusken's famous pride. It seemed that the elite warriors felt that having a Jedi available as a training aide wasn't something they would pass up. It was these times he'd felt the hatred of the young women. Its intensity in the Force hurt him more than the scars he got from the various warriors.

The Tusken made a face at the sound of his hunger, "Old and defeated you may be, but I'll give you Jedi credit. A Tusken warrior in the prime of their life would have been hard pressed to survive such a wound." She set the tray down on the desk which used to carry his computer station. Now except for a small hand-held, it was bare. She gestured to it, "Eat; you need to gain your strength back quickly so you can leave. The sooner the better."

Kenobi looked around for a robe before giving a mental shrug. Neither Jedi nor Tusken held much in the way of nudity taboos. He gingerly made his way from the bed to the desk. The Tusken watched him eat in silence.

Finally with his hunger sated enough, Kenobi turned to find the woman's piercing, spice-tinted eyes boring into him.

"Why?" Kenobi asked.

"Why what, _General_ Kenobi?" Ksenia said as she all but sneer the word general.

"Why the hate? While the Tusken have never had a love of Force users, mostly it is because we're off-worlders, 'reeking of unearned water' as I believe your people often say. But there's more; it's personal. So why the hate?" Kenobi asked again.

Ksenia sneered again. Kenobi found it odd to see it as Tusken rarely took off their masks around non-Tusken. While they were human, it was rare to see their faces. Thus the Tusken were thought to be cold. There was nothing cold in Ksenia. "Are you going to lecture me about hatred leading to the Dark Side, Jedi?"

Kenobi shook his head. "Love brought my former padawan down, not hatred. I should be the last one to lecture about hate."

Ksenia laughed bitterly, "True and it was love that drove your former padawan to kill my entire clan. I was there; it wasn't all about love. Skywalker was hate fueled that night even as we Tusken had done what we'd always have done. He should have known a slave such as Shmi would be worth more alive than taken for her water. Tatooine slaves know hardship; they know to fear the desert. Ironic that it was love which killed Shmi in the end."

Kenobi's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean? Anakin never told me anything other than his mother died in a Tusken Camp. Amidala wouldn't speak of it stating that Anakin would tell me when the time was right. I was off world on a mission and sadly with the Clone War beginning shortly afterwards, there was so much else going on I forgot about it. I am not apologizing. I was his master; I should have delved deeper. I cannot lie; I felt the rage in him, the Dark. But Anakin threw himself into the war and that Dark didn't seem to grow like I had expected. Sadly I didn't pursue what I should have."

Ksenia snorted and made a dismissive gesture, "All true but tell that to the dead. As for Shmi, she may have spun quite a tale to you and your master when you first came to Tatooine, but her pregnancy wasn't from the Force or whatever lie she told you. No, she had caught the eye of a young warrior while on scouting missions. He took her but then realized that they had no hope together. He made her forget but he never could do the same to himself."

Kenobi frowned, "Made her forget? How?"

Ksenia laughed, "The old ways are not as forgotten as the galaxy believes. If you hadn't passed out so early, you might have seen just how much hasn't been forgotten. You Force users aren't the only one's who can sway people's mind."

Kenobi's eye's narrowed at this. He knew full well that Bene Gesserit and those who had learned their ways had access to _the Voice_. A skillful practitioner was said to be able to force people to do things even a Grand Master Jedi could not when affecting the mind through the Force.

"I take it that this Tusken warrior wanted her back when he felt he could shield her?" Kenobi theorized slowly.

"Yes and your wayward padawan, in his haste to save his mother, slaughtered not only his father but his father's kin. That warrior was my brother, Karel. A Fedaykin almost from the time he could hold a crysknife. A warrior from a lineage stretching back to Arrakis with ties to Ghanima Atreides herself! Gone! Lost with their water wasted on the dunes because of _**YOUR PADAWAN**_ _!_ "

Ksenia leapt up with a murderous look on her face as she whipped out her crysknife, "We were the elite! We kept the Old Ways; the Fremen ways of Arrakis! But also honored that which has been left to rot in musty libraries and outdated archives. Our mother's blood went back to the Twelve Colonies, back to Old Earth! Sneer all you want, but we know we are the direct sons and daughters of the Home of Man. A precious tree which has withstood storm after storm and your padawan, _**MY OWN NEPHEW**_ , cut down part of this precious tree and its link to the past with the same lightsaber that even now is being held by his son. If it weren't for prophecy…oh you would take _**days**_ to die. Before the end, I would have you pleading to be thrown to the sarlacc rather than spend one more moment beneath my blade."

Kenobi hadn't felt such rage since he faced Asajj Ventress. Even Vader on Mustafar had not radiated such hatred. Yet this anger, this pure hatred was tinged with such sadness and such loss, it humbled the old Jedi. Even more, was that even as the Tusken inched forward and the blade quivered in her palm as if eager to drink his blood, Kenobi also felt the bands of duty already binding the Handmaiden back from the edge.

"My faith in prophecy is not what it was. Anakin was supposed to bring balance to the Force, yet like he did here, all he did was bring slaughter. So while I seem protected by prophecy, I will understand if you must avenge your kin," Kenobi said evenly; his eyes never leaving Ksenia's.

The Tusken woman drew in a deep breath and took a violent step forward before visibly restraining herself. She closed her eyes, took another deep breath. In the Force, Kenobi could feel the hatred and sorrow being roped in by her deep sense of duty. Kenobi could not help but be impressed. Obi-Wan had seen Grand Masters with less control than what this Tusken Reverend Mother in training exhibited.

"Your one time charge stayed our hand. Sayyadina Mariya had foreseen your death but the young Skywalker had a Force vision. He saw you with two Force users dueling with lightsabers on a planet of grass. I looked into the future with my poor sight and yet I too saw your fate was not to die on the dunes. As I told our warriors, Ben Kenobi did indeed die for his time here on Tatooine is over. From this 'death' Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master and General of the Republic will go forth once again," Ksenia said as she back away as she sheathed her crysknife.

Kenobi ran a hand through his beard, "A planet of grass? Taris? Lothal? Or maybe Ertegas. I doubt it would Dantooine. Any Jedi would be foolish to return to a planet with such a known old Jedi Enclave. Even one in ruins, I'm afraid."

Ksenia shrugged, "Your one-time charge only saw grass. I wouldn't know one such planet from the other. All I know is it had one sun and two moons."

Kenobi continued to stroke his beard as he thought. "That points to Lothal. There is a very old Jedi temple there but few know of it. More importantly, Darth Vader wouldn't know of it." He looked at the Tusken woman. "So, I seem to have a destination though I shall meditate on it. I doubt you are here to be my nursemaid, so why are you here?"

"I have done what I am here to do. You know where to go. You also know, I'm sure, that young Skywalker is lost to you. Do not try to reclaim him. My sight is not yet what it may be but I know you may encounter him again. As friend or foe I am not sure. But I do know one thing; there are forces at work here. Forces which seem to confound the sight be it from Force or Spice."

Kenobi tried to bite down his frustration; he had hoped they would release Luke back to him even after hearing that he had a family of sort in the Tusken. Yet Ksenia's comment intrigued him, "What do you mean?"

Ksenia gestured to a table where Obi-Wan belated realized had his lightsaber resting on it, "You Jedi are like the people of the Shai Hulud: we start our training young. Yet young Luke is eleven. Why did you never train him earlier? And why bring him here? Yes the Lars were family of sort but also a link to Darth Vader. A link he came back and burned to the sands. Certainly you can not be so old to be addled enough to not see the danger of this in the Force?"

Kenobi was about to deny this but stopped himself. Why had he accepted so blithely the idea to come to Tatooine? Ksenia was certainly right. It only made sense that Vader would eventually want to cover up any link to Anakin Skywalker.

Ksenia seemed to read his confusion, "Again; why did you come here?"

Obi-Wan thought and found he didn't have much of an answer, 'I'm not quite sure. Grand Master Yoda had said something about family but little else. I can't really remember where I originally was going to take Luke. I think it was my old Master, returned from the Force, who encouraged me to come to Tatooine."

Ksenia blinked at that. As wedded to mysticism as the Tusken were, he knew the concept of Force ghosts unsettled them. Still she recovered quickly and even smiled slightly. "Sayyadina spoke of your old master. He was a proponent of what you call the Living Force, yes?"

Kenobi nodded, "He was famous for it and it caused him to be in conflict with the Council quite often."

Ksenia smile grew wider, "Then perhaps young Luke being here is less chance than I had thought. Tell me, Jedi, those who go into the Force and return; are they still tied to our life?"

Kenobi hesitated, "I'm not sure I understand. The Force is life; it surrounds us and penetrates us. I know the Spice allows you a similar sense of how luminous living things are."

The Tusken women laughed, "Yes we are but what I meant was we born, we live and we die. We are tied to life as planets are tied to their star. But these Force Ghosts; what ties do they have?"

Kenobi thought about it but before he could even frame a response, Ksenia went on, "Imagine if you will that all life is made up of sand. We are born out of the sand but while we live, we are ourselves. Yet when we die, that sand goes back into the dunes. The individual sands becoming mixed back into all the other grains of sand under Shai Hulud's watch. Tell me, these Force Ghosts, are they an echo of that old pattern, or are they dunes themselves communicating through the _memory_ of who they were."

Kenobi frowned but he saw what she was saying, "You are implying that what I believe was the literal spirit of my master was more of the Force itself using his echo. So much old knowledge of such things has been lost. My heart says to deny the possibility for it wants to feel that even after death, my master continued in some way. However my head sees the thrust of your logic."

Ksenia gave a slight bow of her head but then shrugged, "Going back to the Fremen, we've always have delved into the deeper mysteries of the universe than you Jedi. Even with their betrayal of Shai Hulud, the teaching we took from the Bene Gesserit furthered that journey. Perhaps that is why we are cautious about such things. Where do prophecies originate? How does the universe express itself? Your ghosts in the Force may just be another way that beyond makes itself manifest to those who are here."

Ksenia made a throwing away gesture, "Either way, I believe there was more to you bringing young Luke here along with not training him. With so few Jedi left and the obvious power the lad has, why not train him? Tatooine would hide him even from the Emperor. Surely that had to be part of why you rationalized this planet was a good place to hide him from his father and his dark master."

Kenobi rubbed the ache in his injured side, "So you are saying I brought Luke here because he has a destiny here? My own viewings is that his destiny is to confront his father and through him, Palpatine."

Ksenia laughed. It was one devoid of humor, "And you may be right. But to my poor sight, I have glimpsed a deeper truth. One Sayyadina Mariya knows more off. I believe what you saw of young Luke's destiny is merely an effect, a reflection off of his true destiny. His blood runs strong in the Force. In his blood flows the Spice. And through his father, his blood goes all the way back to titans of legend. I never sensed it till the other night; my hatred of his father blinded my Sight. Sayyadina scolded me often regarding you and the boy. Now I understand why."

Kenobi thought back to her earlier comments, "You believe he is of the old royalty? That sort of thing lost meaning centuries ago."

Ksenia laughed again; once more with no humor, "To the Jedi perhaps. But there are those of us scattered around who remember. The people of Shai Hulud remember. Blood lines may not mean much to you, Jedi, but we see the dance of fate in the bloodlines as taught to use be the Bene Gesserit witches. Young Luke has formidable ancestors. From Ghanima and her Fremen husband, that line stretches to the very sietch Luke is in at this very moment. Yet few remember that there is more to it. Athena Adama married a Fremen and that line married into the Atreides."

The Tusken women jumped to her feet, her voice filled with devotion and an almost religious fervor, "Thus Luke carries in him much of heroes of the old Colonies. And then there is the other symmetry which makes one wonder. From the union of Adama and Atreides came twins which shook the world. Leto to make the Republic and Ghanima who brought the Fremen into the fold which made the Jihad possible. Now, centuries later, when Leto's republic falters, new twins of power are born."

Kenobi nodded absently as he tried to make sense of what he was hearing. Then his eyes flew open as he realized what she was saying, "What? How do you know that?"

Ksenia chuckled. This time there was mirth to it. "Foolish Jedi; I told you already. We see the dance in the blood. Once I truly looked, it is obvious. Luke is a giant in the Force but it is an odd echo. Like it is only one part of a larger harmony. It is male; strong and yet soft with compassion. From that echo, I can feel what the other part of the harmony _**must**_ be; female yet strong with determination. Two halves of a greater whole. Just like Leto and Ghanima were."

Kenobi just stared at the women in shock. There were only three people in the galaxy who knew of the truth of who Leia Organa truly was and yet this Handmaiden, a padawan of sorts, had divined it! He began to realize that perhaps she was right; there was a larger force moving and it was moving them in ways Kenobi had never dreamed possible.

Ksenia once again seemed to read his face, "So Jedi, now you know my mind. Heal up and then be off to Anchorhead or Mos Eisley and thence to this Lothal or wherever your Force takes you. We shall deal with Luke Skywalker. He is where is fated to be. We will prepare him for his future of where the Force or the will of Shai Hulud takes him."

 **XxXxX**

 **A/N** : Losing Carrie Fisher just blows.

 **Galactic Musings** : I'm sure many readers either don't care or skim, but the Galactic Musing sections will taper off as the story continues. For now I'm almost done with the galactic back story. Also, just a reminder, I've collapsed the time-line quite a bit. If I remember right, there is like a 4,000-5,000 year gap between KOTOR and The Battle of Yavin. I'm thinking that 2,000 is a bit more accurate. Time for an advanced culture is a lot faster than for a pre-industrial one. Even with the stagnation I've written about, I just can't swallow that there would be so little change in technology, language and the like in 5,000 years from KOTOR to 01 BBY.

 **Thanks David Brin!** It hit me one night as I was suffering through a allergy induced migraine that author **David Brin's** _Uplift_ series had an answer to something I've always wondered about. R2-D2 was jammed with practically every tool you could conceive of yet they decided NOT to go with a vocorder capable of Galactic Basic! I'm sure this was a "WTF?!" for many. Well in Brin's books, there are many various languages spoken and much of it is because of the various ways all the different galactic species speak. Star Wars, unlike Star Trek, has a lot more obviously alien aliens.

It would seem obvious that a Bith, Ithorian and Aqualish (to name a few from the famous cantina scene) do not have the capability to make most of the vocal sounds more human-like aliens can. So it makes sense that instead of one Galactic Basic, there are several. In fact, many of the languages might reflect the mental aspect of the speakers. While I'm sure most sentient races have a similar chemical/electric type of neurons, how they perceive the world is probably very different (as seen even among some human languages) and thus the language reflects this.

 **Galactic Languages** : I'm just going to take **David Brin's** concept directly. I don't know how deep I'll get but for now I just have 3 of the many major languages spoken.

Gal-One: The standard Galactic Basic spoken by humans.

Gal-Two: There are plenty of instances in both KOTOR games where you have races such as Devaronians and Twi'lek speak in a language close enough to English that wonder why they aren't speaking Basic? Not sure why but for whatever reason, it'll be Gal-Two and I would think a lot of Gal-One users understand it and maybe even speak it. Maybe Gal-Two used to be the galactic standard but fell out of favor after the rise of one major Empire or Republic. So it's widespread but not suppressed. Indeed using it might be seen as a way to 'stick it to the man' verbally. Given the canon human-centric/anti-alien bias of the Imperial Empire, this makes sense to me.

Gal-Five: This is the hooting droid speak of R2-D2. My fan-wank to go with the theme shown already in how the droids are seen as incapable of revolt due to their special programming. In the case of R2 type units, this programming along with their focus on machine language made Gal-Five the best suited language for these droids. There are many races (especially avian ones) who speak Gal-Five.

Now given how many languages C-3P0 speaks, there are many forms of communication. However many of them are variants, indigenous languages used mostly by a species among themselves (the Ewoks and Jawas for example) and sign languages. (The latter makes me wonder if C-3P0 has special extra arms that come out from his sides to replicate languages using more than two limbs)


	3. The Gom Jabbar

**DISCLAIMER THE FIRST** : If it relates to _Star Wars_ , _SG-1_ , _Battlestar Galactica_ or _Dune_ , you can bet I don't own any of it nor will I be making any money off it. Nope, not a dime even if I did grow up in the same town, went to the same high school and junior college that George Lucas did. More the pity.

 **PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : " _Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity._ " – **He** **nry Nouwen** – Dutch theologian, professor and writer. (1932-)

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 04-18-2017

 **XxXxX**

 **STORY NOTE** : For those who read my other work, know that for this story anything _ **§ written like this §**_ means that the speaker is using _The Voice_ as seen in Dune and not speaking parseltongue.

 **XxXxX**

 **CHAPTER THREE – THE GOM JABBAR**

 **XxXxX**

 _Darth Revan was, as the old saying goes, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Once a Jedi thence a Sith and then after being mind-wiped a Jedi again only to become a Sith once more…_

… _or so the histories say._

 _The truth is much more complex. A Sith would not have spared the likes of Carth Onassi, Mission Vao, the Jedi Knight Juhani or the Grey Jedi Jolee Bindo. Yet it seemed to the forces of the Republic that Revan had indeed returned to the Dark Side and brought down Bastila Shan with him. Yet there were many forces at play which never made it into the Republic histories. With the return of his memories, Revan once again remembered information he had learned while searching for the Star Forge. A secret only those who held to the old ways of the Colonial Empire would recognize. As fate would have it, Revan had been born on Ione which previously had been known as Ix. The secret that the one time Revanchist had found had chilled the Jedi/Sith to his core._

 _So while at first it appeared that the Dark Side had triumphed, the reality was quite different. Revan allowed most of the Republic fleet to flee his Star Forge created forces. Few know that Revan did, in fact, **not** lead his fleet in conquering the Republic but that they quietly surrendered when the scope of their defeat became evident to the Republic leaders. Yet Revan's time overseeing what was expected to be a new Sith empire was short. In fact, analysis of news from that time make it clear that many in the Republic didn't realize that Revan had taken over! _

_After making some minor changes which confused all, he disappeared into the Outer Rim with most of his fleet. The Jedi swooped in only to find that the badly damaged Star Forge had either been scuttled by Revan or somehow he had taken it with him. Without Revan's presence, the Republic quickly reasserted itself and tried to act as if nothing had happened other than another 'glorious victory' by the Republic._

 _What did happen which escaped notice of most was that Revan foresaw a future threat; a threat he left to ascertain the extent of. The severity of this threat was evident enough that the Exile Meetra Surik went in search of Revan after her defeat of Darth Traya at Malachor V. Yet it was an earlier encounter on the hidden factory world which was creating ersatz copies of Revan's famous assassin droid HK-47 which had been where she had grasped the enormity of the danger._

 _What had Revan foreseen? What had Surik found which lead her to abandon all to search the stars for Revan?_

 _The answer, of course, has yet to be written but we've already seen the opening moves. Sometimes the evil song of the likes of Palpatine are but one part of a larger fugue of darkness._

 _Of course the Force is about balance and thus as the crescendo of Darkness rises, the Light responds with a contrapuntal theme to bring the music of the universe back into harmony…if only for a little while before entropy skews back into chaos until the next cycle._

 _ **Musings in The Force**_ _– Princess Irulan as spoken to Winter Celchu_

 **XxXxX**

 **HAMYL SIETCH, SOMEWHERE IN THE DUNE SEA, TATOOINE, 11 BBY– MORNING**

Luke watched as Sabiha bowed and backed out of the chamber she had led him to. The chamber of Sayyadina Mariya who even now looked at him from half closed eyes from her throne-like chair.

Luke looked back at her with what he hoped was defiance. He knew the Tuskens valued strength and so that's what he needed to project even as he was very aware of the fact he was an orphaned boy way out of his depth.

The silence stretched on for minutes before the old woman smiled, "Good. You are frightened but know to show such would likely see you rendered down for your water. I expected this from you but it is good to see it first hand."

Luke tried not to let the shiver of relief show. Instead he bowed his head slightly.

Sayyadina Mariya made an imperious gesture towards him, "Come, young Skywalker; we have much to discuss but first there is an old custom from the Bene Gesserits which I believe applies here."

Luke didn't move, "Excuse me Sayyadina but I was told that Order was proscribed and not to be talked about."

Mariya laughed. It was one part humor and one part bitterness. "Yes that is true, young Skywalker. Of course as Sayyadina, many things are not denied me. The truth is difficult. A lesson you are already learning. Yes, the Bene Gesserit Order betrayed the Fremen and through them us as well. Yet we learned a great deal from the Order witches. One should never turn one's nose up at knowledge simply because you dislike the source. So while our feud with the Bene Gesserit Order continues, we are not so proud to take something useful from an enemy. _**§ Come! §**_ "

Luke took four quick steps forward before he felt a rush of revulsion which caused him to rear back.

Mariya laughed again. This time with delight. "Oh you _**are**_ a powerful little boy! Many a powerful man would have obeyed without hesitation and yet you broke free. Very good!"

Luke shook his head of the fuzz it seemed to be suddenly filled with. He realized that the Sayyadina had used the fabled Voice on him. A skill thought lost except to a few Bene Gesserit high priestesses.

The Sayyadina clapped twice. There was the sound of a door opening behind Mariya's throne-like chair and from behind it came Ksenia carrying a small box and a waist-high pedestal. Following her was Sabiha carrying an even smaller box. The older Tusken put the pedestal in front of the Sayyadina and put the box on top of it and then withdrew to her mistress's right hand. The younger Tusken open her box and presented it to the Sayyadina who took something small out of it and put it on her right index finger. Sabiha gave a small bow and moved to her left hand.

Mariya gestured again, "Come, it is time you are tested."

Luke warily moved so he stood in front of the pedestal. Ksenia's face might have been carved from stoned for all the emotion it showed. Sabiha's face showed more feeling but whether it was fear or excitement or both, Luke couldn't tell.

Mariya held up her hand to show what looked like a large metallic thimble with a nasty looking needle-like point to it. "This is a Gom Jabbar. It is filled with a special poison that for those like us, those opened up to the greater power of the universe, is filled with failure. Just a small prick and you life will change for the worst. You may never touch the Force again or you may never father children or even breathe without pain again. Each person reacts differently."

Luke fought to keep the fear from showing on his face. He had a vague idea of what was coming. Given what he knew now about his parentage, many of the books and odd lessons Aunt Beru gave him made sense. Still he wasn't sure what the box in front of him meant.

Mariya gestured with her left hand towards the box, "Now young Skywalker we shall find out if you are worthy of being allowed to stay with us, live with us, learn from us. For we Tusken do not allow any into our seitch beyond the slaves we take. Put your dominant hand into the box and we shall see what you are truly made of."

Luke eyed the box with suspicion, "What is in the box?"

"Pain," Mariya said with a glint in her eye.

Luke couldn't help but swallow nervously but again he knew he had to be strong. Regardless of what the poison would do to him, Luke doubted he'd be allowed to live long enough to truly suffer from the poison's effects. So he flexed the fingers on his right hand briefly before putting it into the box. As he did, the Sayyadina leaned forward and put the Gom Jabbar close to his jugular.

"We Tusken believe you cannot truly know someone until you fight them. What are they willing to do to win? Will they retreat when faced with impossible odds or will their pride lead them to be slaughtered? However too often those who fight are fighting for things greater than themselves. Friends, family, ideals or nations. It is often easy to give up one's life for these things. But you, young Skywalker, face pain alone. Pain with a price you know is coming if you remove your hand from the box before I say so. Animals will chew off a limb to escape such pain. Are you animal? Or are you of the Tusken blood? Do you have what it takes to be one with the Force or will your water be ours today?"

Sweat had quickly broke out all over Luke's body as the instant the Sayyadina had begun to speak, the pain had started. It hadn't even begun as an itch; it was pain from the beginning and pain which rapidly began to grow. And it didn't stay confined to the box as it felt to Luke as if his hand had been poisoned which was rapidly flowing up his arm and into the rest of his body.

Soon the chamber, lit with the soft light of the glow-bulbs was filled with Luke's small grunts of pain and the occasional stamping of his feet as he tried to deal with the pain which now filled his entire body. Yet it was in his hand where it felt as if thousands of Jigger ants were tearing at his flesh.

The Sayyadina voice sounded as she was talking to a small child in order to put it to sleep. "Do you feel how your hand is being destroyed? Are you thinking of how perhaps a cybernetic hand won't be so bad? Or are you filled with violation over what I'm doing to you? Is your heart filling with hate? Fear? All of the pain will go away. All you need to do is fail. Failing is easy. The universe is filled with failure. Yours will hardly be remarked upon by an uncaring universe."

Luke's face was contorted into a mask of pain and worried he'd break his teeth he was grinding them together so hard. His breathing was tortured gasps. The Sayyadina's words weren't in the Voice but the message was seductive. He suddenly remembered something old Ben had said once in an argument he had overhead between the old man and his uncle. With his body feeling like it was burning from the inside, the old Jedi's comment about there being worst fates then death suddenly was very real to Luke.

It took all his strength to keep his arm from pulling his hand free on its own accord. Luke cast about for something to hold onto; something to blot out the seductive message the Sayyadina was crooning into his ear. It was so hard to think! Even with his eyes screwed shut, it seemed like there were flashing lights before him. He needed something...

...and suddenly it was there. Words began to filter up from his memories. Words from the lessons Aunt Beru had made sure he had learned. Words from those like his father. The words began to fill him and give him strength. The air around him suddenly began to crackle with energy.

"Come young Skywalker," the Sayyadina said in the same soothing, seductive tone. "We shall make your death quick. All you need to do is remove your hand and prove you were never strong enough to be a Tusken." She seemed unaffected by the energy suddenly rolling off the young man even as both of her hand-maidens took an involuntary step backwards.

"I am strong!" Luke suddenly snarled out; his voice harsh and guttural. "Through strength I will gain serenity and thus balance! Power and knowledge! All shall set me free!"

The Sayyadina cackled as if she was an evil witch on horror vid-show. "The only freedom you shall have young one is _**death**_!"

To the amazement of the two hand-maidens, Luke's eyes flew open and they seemed to burn with an unnatural cerulean glow. "There is **NO** death! There is _**The FORCE!**_ "

Both Ksenia and Sabiha screamed as the Sayyadina was blasted back against her throne which flipped over and was smashed against the door behind it. Both hand-maidens were clipped by the same burst of power and were flung to either side.

Ksenia recovered first and leapt to her feet with her crysknive in hand. Yet before she could even think to attack the young boy who was staring at the remains of the box that had been around his hand, a laugh came from under the shattered throne.

"Mistress!" Sabiha cried as she frantically dove at the remains of the throne to help the laughing Sayyadina to her feet. Ksenia, however, looked stunned and seemed unsure what to do.

"Kum wallah boy!" the Sayyadina said as Sabiha helped her to her feet. "I knew you were a powerhouse but by the Maker you proved my assessment wrong. You will be a titan among men! I see now my previous visions did not deceive in what you will be capable of."

"Mistress! He attacked you! We cannot let that stand!" Ksenia snarled out.

The Sayyadina snorted with obvious scorn, "Young Luke did no such thing. He was merely breaking his chains. I just happened to be too close when he did so." The old woman looked back towards the young boy in question. He was still staring at his hand as if he couldn't believe it was perfectly fine. "Nerve induction, young Luke. Your hand was never in any danger."

Luke blinked and seemed to come back to himself, "What now? I feel...I am not sure how I feel..."

Mariya laughed, "I do not doubt it, young one. You've taken the first step on a long journey that few have ever trod. Come Sabiha! Take our newest Tusken warrior to the baths and have the Naib assign him his due. He has much to learn and little time to learn it in.

 **XxXxX**

 _Many cultures of Old Earth saw Fate being woven by god-like beings with the threads being people and their actions. Indeed the concept of Fate has long been associated with weaving for it is a metaphor that resonates with ephemeral beings. Even among technologically advanced races and groups like the Jedi often fell prey to using such a metaphor because in weaving you must have balance or you have chaos. Go too far in one direction and your weave goes askew. Correct too far in the other direction and again you have chaos. It is this metaphor which helps drive the concept of there being a need for balance._

 _The truth, of course, is far more subtle. The balance isn't some lofty goal to be reached through enlightenment or some default setting of the universe. It is simple the natural boundary between chaos and order. No more; no less. Yet that waypoint between chaos and order is venerated because it is stable. Just as our bodies, or an ecosystem strives for homeostasis, so to do we wish it for the greater universe. But again, too often this stability is seen as something grander than it is. There is no grandeur to chaos. There is no grandeur to order. And there is no grandeur for a period of stable balance between the two. Those who see grandeur to such things miss the central truth of the universe._ _ **The universe is**_ _. It is grand in order and in chaos or in the resting state of balance._

 _That being said, there is one factor of being in balance and that is those who bring balance, especially to the Force, are those who understand necessity of chaos and the inherent cruelty of order. They can see the need for the fire and the flood just as they see how order brings stability but also conformity and stagnation. Those who stand between see that the balance is less of a state and more of being the fulcrum which can tilt the universe back and forth between lesser extremes._

 _When Darth Sidious gave Order 66, he at once lit a torch which began to burn the dry timber that was the Republic. In the grand scope of things, this could be seen as a step towards positive chaos as many historians felt that Darth Revan's departure meant another two thousand years of stagnation to come. Yet it was the Jedi Purge which was the true horror of the day. Empires rise and fall but for one group of Force wielders to be so destroyed was setting up a terrible future._

 _While Darth Sidious had plans for immortality and planned to rule his Empire for as long as he could cheat death, his decisions to rescind the Rule of Two meant that inevitably there would be scores of Sith roaming the galaxy. Sadly, unlike the Jedi who are actually quite passive for the most part, Sith by their nature corrupt and destroy. Thus as Sidious' hold on the galaxy grew, with that grip would come fire and destruction. No matter what he did to preserve the order needed to control his vast Empire, the tools he used would be the very thing which would inevitably destroy it. The Sith would not be a cleansing forest fire but more of an asteroid strike which almost destroys an entire planetary biosphere._

 _At the time, none of the players realized this. Sidious, Vader and the newly created Inquisitorius all were busy laying the foundation of what they felt would be an Empire rivaling that of the Old Republic. To the Rebellion and Separatists not yet under full control, they plotted and planned to ensure Sidious' reign would be brief and they eagerly sought out the remaining Jedi to aid them._

 _Neither side realized there was a third player waiting in the wings. A third side which was only a whisper at first. Very few heard that initial whisper. Only one ever truly listened to what the Force was telling them was coming._

 _ **Musings in The Force**_ _– Princess Irulan as spoken to Winter Celchu_

 **XxXxX**

 **THE SPACED OUT SPACER BAR, CORELLIAN SECTOR, NAR SHADDA, 11 BBY– EVENING**

The Twi'lek sipped her smoking drink while keeping her free hand close enough to her hip to draw her blaster quickly if she needed to. Not that she really expected trouble given how the Corellian Sector was one of the more peaceful areas of Nar Shadda. Of course beyond the ever present danger of a drunken bar fight, if there was to be real trouble, it would come from agents of the Empire looking for Rebel sympathizers and Republic hold-outs.

Thus she was keeping a careful eye out without being obvious about it given she was one of the former waiting to meet one of the latter.

It did help that the bar was moderately busy as the Gamma shift had ended 3 hours ago and so there were still plenty of off-shift dock workers still enjoying an after work drink while mingling with the regulars be they drinkers, gamblers or those, like the Twi'lek who did a lot of business at the bar. Thus there were quite a few who were just as alert as she was, scanning the crowd for a contact, mark or potential client.

To her surprise, her contact didn't slip in one of the many side entrances used by those wanting to be more discrete. Even more surprising was that a hooded cloak seemed to almost be the uniform of Nar Shadda but the Togruta wore a spacer's outfit much like she herself was wearing.

The Togruta scanned the crowd as if searching for her, but the Twi'lek knew this was merely an act on her part. She had felt the touch of the Force and knew the Togruta probably knew where she was seated before she had walked into the building.

After some spacer sign language directed at one of the barkeeps regarding what she wanted, she made her way over to where the Twi'lek waited. With a sigh, she sat down and made a face at the Twi'lek's drink, "You know, I think I could do a lot of grime killing with that. I'm betting I could clean an R2 unit's servos with that and still make specs."

The Twi'lek laughed, "Just because you Togrutas have the stomach of a nerf-herder doesn't mean the rest of us have to be wimps. Besides, I know your drink will probably be sweet enough to kill a Sarlaac if you accidentally knocked it off your vacation sail-barge."

The Togruta made a face, "Oh yes because Tattooine or Jakku is my idea of a place to kick back and relax. So how are things with you Hera? I hope the Ghost is holding together alright. I heard you had a bit of trouble recently."

Hera snorted, "When I am I not getting into trouble with the crew I've got? They give trouble a bad name! Of course I'm surprised to see you without a hood, Ashla. Even though I have to admit, that is some pretty interesting artwork you have going on. Those are dancer tattoos from the Druidian age if I remember right. Pretty impressive work given they're not permanent. I doubt most would notice that."

The woman who now went by the name Ashla chuckled, "Well I figured just changing the color of my skin and adding some false length to my montrals wasn't going to be enough. Plus while Togruta dancers aren't as common as you Twi'leks, there are enough to go unnoticed."

Hera nodded at that. "I take it a spacer fell in love with you, bought your contract and you earned your freedom?"

Ashla chuckled, "As always, you never fail to surprise me. Still while it may seem cliché, I've already bumped into three different women who did exactly that. Hiding in plain sight with a stereotypical story seems to work surprisingly well."

"Is that why you chose that color scheme? Did you feel no one would think you'd do yourself up as Master Shaak Ti?" Hera asked softly. No matter the noise, music and sporting events blaring from the many vid-screens on the walls, one didn't mentioned the name of a Jedi, even a dead one, carelessly.

Ashla smiled a cool smile, "Snips was brash and would dash headlong into things. Subtlety wasn't her style. Besides this colorization is common on Togruta and with Master Ti being dead...well why give me another glance? Right now my main concern is how quickly the Inquisitorius can learn to detect a Force signature. I'm confident I can mask myself but after what happened to the Jedi and the Republic I, for one, am not going to get cocky."

A droid brought over Ashla's drink. The Twi'lek raised her glass in toast, "Truer words have rarely been spoken." The two tapped glasses briefly then drank. Seeing that her friend was looking a bit pensive she decided it was best to take the subject by the montrals. "You seem down. Is there something wrong? Have we been compromised?"

Ashla looked up as if startled by the question, "What? No, no everything is alright. Better than alright actually as I found another safe conduit to Alderaan and the Senator."

Hera brightened, "That's good to hear!" She didn't need a name to know who the Senator was. When it came to the Rebellion, it meant Basil Organa. Although his daughter Leia was already showing she could easily step into her father's shoes in a few years. Already some where comparing her to the legendary Senator Padmé of Naboo. "So what's the problem then?"

Ashla took a long pull of her drink. She plunked the now empty glass on the table and used the excuse of signaling for another to scan the room again. She looked back at Hera with a slight frown. "Sadly the Force is rarely to be relied on these days when it comes to portents of the future. The shroud of the Dark Side is still very much prevalent. Yet the other day I woke from a dream. It was so real I feel it was a premonition from the Force but..."

"But..." Hera prompted with a look from over her glass.

"But I worry that this was a false dream, a dream of what I hope for and not what is to be. I heard rumors that quite a few Jedi fell prey to such things during the War. Although it is difficult to tell. Parts of the dream are easy to see as perhaps being something I desire. It was the other part that is confusing."

"Well let's go with what you feel is something you want," Hera said easily. Her relationship with former Jedi Kanan had taught her that you sometimes had to tug on those touched with the Force to get them to open up about what they had seen via the Force.

Ashla made a face, "It's just that it's a bit too pat. I had a glimpse of the Spectres on Lothal."

Hera frowned, "Okay, well that's where we're going next so I can see how you'd think it might be just your subconscious working on info you know."

Ashla nodded, "That's what I was thinking but there is more. Not only is Kanan wielding his lightsaber again, he's sparring with a young boy who is also using a lightsaber. You and the rest of the Spectres are looking on but there is another; Master Kenobi is there as well."

Hera digested this for a moment, "Did the boy have a padawan braid?"

Ashla shook her head hard enough to cause her montrals to flail a bit, "No and that is one of the things which gives me pause. If this was just a normal dream, I'd expect the boy to have one but he doesn't. Also Kenobi was wearing armor. Not his old Clone War armor but a red Mandalorian style armor which really surprises me."

"Why? From the histories I read, General Kenobi was quite involved in Mandalorian affairs from time to time," Hera asked.

"That's why, "Ashla said with a sad look. "Unlike my old master, Kenobi kept to the codes even though it was obvious to me that the love that Duchess Satine Kryze professed to him as she died was returned. Given the Council's views on such things, I'm just surprised he would keep the red armor he wore on that mission as a keepsake. It is against the Jedi Code and he was well known to keeping to them even with my old master as his padawan made him bend the rules more often than not."

Hera nodded, "On the other hand, that would be another indicator this was no dream. You just said it surprised you. I hope it is true; we can use all the help we can get and he's all that and more. Plus if Kanan does take up a student, padawan or not, that's good news as well. So what was in the dream that you didn't understand?"

Ashla was silent in part as the serving droid return with her new drink. Supposedly these droids were just basic units but again, no one with any smarts on Nar Shadda took anything at face value. It was why Hera had a fuzzer on the table which helped keep any sort of directional microphones from hearing what was being said at the table and she wasn't the only one in the room using one.

Finally Ashla took another deep drink before continuing. "What I don't understand was after the sequence on Lothal, my dream became random images. They are hard to define but I can say that I believe they are of Tattooine."

"Why do you say that?" Hera asked.

"Well I've been to Tattooine and regardless of how bad that mission went, I did get a feel of the place. Like any place with the Spice, Tattooine is a place you remember. Plus I recently dropped off some cargo on Varadan and it wasn't there and it didn't feel like Jakku either."

"And no Force sensitive with two working brain cells would travel to Arrakis," Hera pointed out. While the feud between the Fremen and the Bene Gesserits was legendary, the Fremen didn't take to kindly to Jedi either and the feeling was mutual. A Jedi on Arrakis was as rare as an honest merchant on the promenade of Nar Shadda.

Ashla laughed, "Exactly. So these images from Tattooine are troubling. I get warped images of my old Master. I know he grew up there as a slave but these images are off. Like they aren't him but are like him. Then there is this dark presence. Filled with the Force but not of the Sith but not a Jedi either. There is a voice from the past lost in the dunes, guarded by the Worms. Then there were images of Tuskens. They were preparing for war, preparing for another jihad it seemed. And then there, at the end, was a ship carrying a woman made of light. I'd swear it was Basil's Tantive IV. My master's old droids were there and they were in trouble. The woman of light was there for help but what she found was a man shrouded in grey. His eyes, they were so piercingly blue."

"Blue? Spice blue?" Hera asked. She hoped not. All they needed was another one of the Spice Prophets that cropped up from time to time. No one wanted another jihad. Even after two thousand years, the scars of the first Jihad still lingered. The occasional Spice Prophet had caused plenty of damage by whipping up the people of the sand. No one wanted to see them unite again.

"Yes and no.," Ashla replied. "Yes the eyes had the touch of Spice to them but it was the eyes themselves that were so blue and alive with power. They stared out at me from behind the grayness. It was like this person had their own shroud of the Force, protecting him from the Sight. And that's what confuses me. I've never been one to do well in that area of the Force. Only when I have some personal connection like when I found Master Plo amid some space wreckage after his ship had been destroyed by the Malevolence have I had any real success. So what connection is there to this blue-eyed being?"

Hera took a drink and pondered this. "Well if this was indeed a true vision then I doubt we'll be able to figure it out over drinks. I'll ask Kanan to mediate on it as well. If your vision is true, the Spectres are in for more trouble because I can't see having a former General of the Republic becoming part of our crew not making us any less of the trouble magnets than we already are. Maybe he can see something which can help us divine what is to come. If anything, it does mean we should plant a few more contacts on Tattooine. As much as I hate having to deal with that wretched sand getting into every frakkin' nook and cranny of the Ghost, it is nice to be in a system where the Empire can't drop a battle fleet into orbit without much warning."

Ashla was starring into space and many might think she hadn't heard a word the other woman had said but soon enough the Togruta blinked a few times, shook her head before nodding. "I agree. That and with the Empire tightening its grip, smuggler kings like Jabba are going to be more and more important to the Rebellion."

Hera sighed, "Too bad you can't use your real name to help with that. Ahsoka Tano did save his son after all."

Ashla laughed bitterly, "Yes and Ahsoka would be the first to tell you that Jabba would sell her out in a heartbeat for the bounty on any surviving Jedi. No, we'll have to do this the hard way."

Hera picked her glass up for another toast. As the two women clinked their glasses together, she smirked, "Is there ever an easy way for the likes of us?"

 **XxXxX**

 **A/N** : I hope all of you appreciate all the little Easter eggs I toss into this fic. So far no one commented on the _Aliens_ reference in the last chapter and we'll see if anyone catches the movie reference in this one.

 **The Exile** : Her name is the "canonical" name for the protagonist of KOTOR II. I'm referencing an "extra" level of the game which modders have been trying to resurrect which ties up the loose end of how all those assassin droids looked like HK-47.

 **The Spectres** : For those not in the know, the Spectres are the protagonists from Star Wars Rebels. Sadly if you don't have much familiarity with that show, a lot of this fic isn't going to make sense.

 **Star Wars: Rebels** : Speaking of this show, again if I make mistakes, please PM me. I currently am without access to Disney Kids so I only got to see season one of this show so a lot of what I'm going on has to come from Wookipedia. Also, I'm thinking that that series story-line will go up to about Season One before events in this fic would derail the canonical timeline. (i.e. I doubt Kanan is going to end up [spoilers])


	4. The Fulcrum

**DISCLAIMER THE FIRST** : If it relates to _Star Wars_ , _SG-1_ , _Battlestar Galactica_ or _Dune_ , you can bet I don't own any of it nor will I be making any money off it. Nope, not a dime even if I did grow up in the same town, went to the same high school and junior college that George Lucas did. More the pity.

 **PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : " _There comes a time in each life like a point of fulcrum. At that time you must accept yourself. It is not anymore what you will become. It is what you are and always will be_." – **John Fowles** – English modern/post-modern novelist. (1926-2005)

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 04-24-2017

 **XxXxX**

 **CHAPTER FOUR – THE FULCRUM**

 **XxXxX**

 _After the full horror of the Jedi Purge was evident, the inevitable question on so many minds was, "how did this happen?" How could one Sith Lord, even one as powerful as Darth Sidious, manage to evade the notice of the entire Jedi Order? How could he have clouded their sight in the Force so much to remain undetected even as he had regular contacts with the likes of Grandmaster Yoda? With hundreds of Jedi throughout the galaxy, how did they all miss the noose tightening around their collective necks?_

 _The answer lies less in the Sith and in the Jedi themselves. The Sith's Rule of Two handicapped the Sith so much that they rapidly dwindled into insignificance. Yet the well of power they drew on now had fewer people drawing from it enabling the few remaining Sith to accomplish great deeds they might not normally accomplish. Yet the mere fact that the Sith seemed to have gone extinct left the Jedi in a position of having no one to challenge their power._

 _A long time ago, on Old Earth, the two great superpowers of the pre-Dispora era engaged in a Cold War which finally had one side collapse after being unable to compete economically with it's rival. As their empire crumbled, one of their last Prime Minister's was asked how it felt to have lost. He replied that in losing, they deprived their opponent of an enemy and thus they would soon begin to fight among themselves and thus even in defeat, they would triumph. This proved prophetic and this also proved true with the Jedi Order._

 _Over the centuries, the Jedi had suffered colossal defeats which almost wiped out their order. Each time, history and lore was lost. Worse, is much of the lore which remained became proscribed. The technique used to create a death of personality was given up simply because it didn't take with Darth Revan. It matter not that it had worked almost flawlessly up till that point and that Darth Revan was a titan in the Force. No, to the extremists who began to have more and more power in the Jedi Council, the technique had failed and thus was proscribed. So too did relationships become banned and even the idea that the Force sensitive children to taken from their families and never to have contact again took root._

 _Thus the Jedi Council and the Jedi themselves grew moribund, filled with internal factions and those who went against the grain such as the proponent of the Living Force such as Master Qui-Gon Jinn were viewed with suspicion and even seen as a heretic by many. This same feeling helped pushed Anakan Skywalker deeper into the trap Darth Sidious had carefully laid for him. All because the Jedi had stopped growing and rested on their laurels even as the feared much of the power and lore which had made the Jedi Order the powerhouse it used to be._

 _So profound was their defeat that the remaining Jedi found themselves as mere advisers and special agents to the newly founded Rebellion. It goes without saying that the like of Grandmaster Yoda's views were listened to and active Jedi like Rahm Kota were respected by the sentients he fought with, yet the general feeling was that the Jedi's day were done._

 _Certainly the old Colonial Orders such as the Bene Gesserit and Bene Tleilax stepped up to aide the Rebellion in hopes of bringing their standing and influence back to what it had been during the initial Colonial Empire. This was helped by the Emperor outlawing both orders and thus driving them underground. Soon Tleilaxu face-dancers would be competing with Bothan spies in stealing secrets form the empire as Bene Gesserit trained and enhanced men and women would infiltrate important installations throughout the Empire. This forced the newly created Inquisitorius busy dealing with them which in turn gave the remaining Jedi some breathing room to avoid capture._

 _Yet as the Rebellion solidified, one major player was oddly silent. The Fremen and their associated tribes. Found on desert worlds throughout the galaxy, they had been watched and feared. Emperor Palpatine was certainly happy how passive the People of Shai Hulud seemed. His will was quickly spread to keep watch but not to antagonize. Similarly the Rebellion felt it better to let sleeping worms lie and did the same._

 _Little did both sides realize that a storm was coming...a storm the Fremen had been waiting for for generations._

 _ **Musings in The Force**_ _– Princess Irulan as spoken to Winter Celchu_

 **XxXxX**

 **SOMEWHERE IN THE DUNE SEA, TATOOINE, 06 BBY– MORNING**

Luke looked out over the dunes and gripped his gaffi stick tightly. He pursed his lips as he stretched his senses out over and under the stand; searching. While the first worm he had ridden for his trial had been of a respectable size, Luke knew he had to travel deep into the Jutland Wastes to find the voice of the past who had been calling for him. The voice which the Sayyadina had been hearing ever since Master Kenobi had brought him to Tatooine. So today he needed to call a older and larger worm if he were to complete the task set him by the Sayyadina.

"I'll miss you Irtikaz. How odd given how much trouble you have caused me and the Sayyadina to say nothing of Sister Ksenia. I guess I'll just have to find someone new whose mistakes will make me look that much better in the eyes of the Sayyadina, " Sabiha said with a wistful and playful tone from behind him. Except for a squad of Fedaykin spread out as scouts and potential skirmishers, only Sabiha had been allowed to see Luke off.

Luke gave a small, amused snort but continued to probe the ground around him. He knew his face was set in the mask of concentration which had given rise to his Tusken name. Even after surviving the test of the Gom Jabbar, Luke had never lost the sense that he had to give his best in all things just to survive. Even among his stoic, adoptive family, Luke was seen as focused and not given to humor. Not that he was cold, however. If anything Luke continued to be teased for his unthinking kindness and generosity. Many called him naive but for all that he had adapted well to his new Tusken home, Luke realized it was temporary and his destiny lay elsewhere...

...and that elsewhere was somewhere out in the Jutland Wastes.

"You do realize in all your careful preparations and planning, you still managed to forget the most important thing you'll need today," Sabiha asked.

There was something more than snark in his friend's voice. Something enough like real disappointment which caused Luke to turn and face her. Her eyes seem to be challenging him and Luke wished she wasn't wearing her Tusken mask so he could get a better read on her. It suddenly dawned on him what she was talking about and his face broke out into a satisfied smile.

"Things are not what they seem, Albatala," Luke said as he took up his own mask and clicked it into place and connected it to the rest of his stillsuit.

Sabiha stamped her foot in anger, "I told you not to call me that! You are not my lover, boy!"

Luke chuckled. Sabiha hated the nickname Ksenia had inadvertently given his friend when she commented that she wasn't applying herself to the training and thus her hands were as soft as petals. After all the teasing and hazing Sabiha had done to him over the last three years, Luke had never let Sabiha live it down. Of course she continued to call him a boy even as she herself was only two years his elder and at thirteen, Luke was considered old enough for many duties expected of a man. His friend Farok, only a year older than him, had already been inducted into the Fedaykin due to his tenacity with a crysknife who had already killed over ten spice smugglers.

"Careful with the footwork there, Albatala; you'll summon a worm," Luke said with playful sarcasm.

"Bah! You should hope it be so given how you forgot to pack a thumper!" Sabiha said with the tone of an older sibling glorying in the soon to be humiliation of the younger sibling.

"Did I? My dear Sister Sabiha, you seem to have forgotten our training. We we not taught that many things are possible if one opens their mind to that which seems impossible? And for my part I know, that with the Force as my ally, I am not so tied to technology as our kin," Luke said a bit more smugly than he felt. True, what he was about to attempt wasn't that difficult but it was something he had never attempted.

He began to chant and stamp his feet. While the Fremen had their own culture, rituals and legends prior to the arrival of the Colonials, one thing which they adopted from the Atreides of Caladan was the Haka.

Many of the original colonists from Old Earth to the watery Picon hailed from maritime countries such as England and Australia but the Polynesians were well represented. Many of the Maori colonist, like their Hawaiian cousins, came to help keep their traditional culture alive. Their Haka soon became a standard ritual in the Picon military and planetary sporting events and continued to thrive later on Caladan. When Ghanima Atreides married the Fedaykin leader Otheym, she brought with her many of her retainers. As different as watery Caladan and arid Arrakis could be, the Atreides and Fremen warriors found many things in common. The Haka was one of those things which, through the Fremen, the Tusken had taken to heart. What had once been a show of strength now also took on the significance of the fight for water.

And its rhythmic nature made it an excellent way to call a worm.

To the watching Fedaykin, it appeared that Luke was simply doing the traditional dance, one normally done before a water raid. Yet to the senses of the Sayyadina's handmaiden, Sabiha could feel that with every stamp of Luke's feet, he was sending out deep pulses of the Force causing a resonance to be projected down into the sands.

She watched as Luke continued to chant and stamp his feet with grudging respect. She had never even thought of such a use of the power she too could wield even though her power was a mere candle to Luke's roaring flame.

This power was soon rewarded as one of the Fedaykin gave the signal for worm sign. Looking to wards the indicated direction, Sabiha quickly saw that Luke's gambit had paid off. The sand crackled with the static electricity which was the hallmark of a worm's passing. The more energy release, the larger the worm. And from the miniature storm which accompanied the bulge in the sand which followed in the wake of the worm, Sabiha knew Luke had called an Old One.

Luke continued his Haka, increasing in speed and his voice grew to shouting. In what was sure to be spread around the sietch fire tonight, the worm breached the sands with a roar which shook the very rocks the Tusken stood on even as Luke's screamed out the final exultation as he finished the Haka.

Sabiha ignored the danger of being so close to such a large worm but was happy to see that Luke did not make the typical mistake of new worm riders in marveling at what they had summoned. Instead Luke quickly moved in the traditional staggered run which helped break up the rhythm of their passing on the dunes. However, as the worm began the slithering move they did to fully exit the sands before diving once more into the depths, Sabiha gave a shout as Luke force jumped onto the worm instead of using his gaffi stick. As his early use to summon the worm was impressive, Sabiha was doubly impressed by the jump given how little actual Force training the Sayyadina had been able to give him.

As Luke quickly hooked up the control reins and guided the worm towards the Jutland Wastes, Sabiha and the watching Fedaykin all began to give the ululating cry which bade the voyager safe travels as they rode Shai Hulud to their destiny.

 **XxXxX**

 **CASTLE JUTLAND, MUSTAFAR, 06 BBY – EVENING**

Darth Vader looked out over the lava flows which cast the blackened terrain in a hellish glow. While it had been in Palpatine's office where he had taken his first true steps to the Dark Side, Vader knew that it was here on Mustafar where Darth Vader was truly born. His dark visage was feared throughout the Empire but it was here that his burned flesh would have perished if not for his will and power in the Force.

Vader had no illusions that the Emperor's command that he build his sanctum here was in part punishment for him falling to the blade of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Vader was under no illusion as to how quickly the Emperor would replace him and knew his castle here was to remind him of his place.

Beneath his mask, Vader smiled. His master would be surprised he could do such a thing so easily given the damage he had sustained. Bacta could only do so much and so his suit was only partial armor but a medical device to help him survive.

...or so the Emperor thought.

Anakin Skywalker had never been content to obey the rigid constraints of the Jedi Order and Darth Vader was no different in regards to similar boundaries given or implied by his dark master. For all his power, Vader knew his master was but one man who was trying to bring an entire galaxy to heel. He had pawns, sycophants, agents and droids of all types to help him. Even his own cadre of secret Bene Gesserit witches who strove to foretell the future. Yet they all looked at his armor and forgot the man underneath it.

While Mustafar didn't not have the issues that planets like Tatooine had in terms of hyperspace travel, like his old home, the volcanic world resonated with the pain as if the lava was the blood the planet was bleeding as it continuously tore itself apart and remade itself. It was this energy which had helped Darth Vader hide his own remaking.

He had heard the comments from the likes of rebel sympathizers such as Senator Organa how he was more machine than man. This view was something Vader actively pushed as he kept abreast of all sorts of innovations in cybernetics. Vader also made many purchases of cortosis, the lightsaber resistant metal ostentatiously to reinforce his armor. In fact, Vader had discovered that the metal, when pulverized properly and then dusted onto his armor helped diffuse it from the sight of the Bene Gesserit and Force sensitives alike. Thus not even the Emperor himself realized that Vader had already replaced his cybernetic limbs with cloned replacements. Or that his respirator did not help him breathe but mostly just made the tortured breathing noises whose coming brought fear to hardened veterans.

Of course everyone who knew of such things would believe that impossible. For all the gifts of the Force, cloning was something which did not work at all with the Force. The Kamino cloners had been so successful because their Mandalorian template Jango Fett had been virtually dead to the Force. Thus he was the ideal candidate. So much so that instead of making up a squad of various different clones, it was decided to go with just the one ideal clone for all the soldiers.

He knew the Emperor had a secret cloning project he was working on to ensure his immortality but Vader also knew it continued to fail to due to the clones not being one with the Force like natural born beings. Yet Vader had cracked the the problem enough that he was able to restore his lost limbs and damaged lungs.

The answer had been the Spice.

Again it was the Emperor's sneering disdain for the old Colonial ways and desire not to antagonize the Fremen tribes which left him with this one, important, blind spot. One Vader didn't share due to his upbringing on Tatooine. Indeed he had carefully recruited from the Jacurutu, the cast out of the various Fremen tribes in the galaxy, to come to Mustafar and settle in secret sietches. With them had come enough worms to start the life-cycle in the the many black sand deserts of Mustafar. Even as harsh as the planet was, Mustafar had small bodies of water. Thus even with the volcanism and tectonic shifts, for the likes of the Jacurutu, the planet was almost considered easy living. Even so, Vader had been pleased when the first patches of Spice appeared.

Having his own private Spice supply meant he didn't have to worry about going through smugglers or Fremen tribes directly. That was a risk Vader knew he could not take. In many ways his armor now was just a deception even though the cortosis treatments would help deflect a glancing lightsaber blow. Vader knew the Emperor would be shocked to see him outside of his armor on flesh limbs of his own and Spice blue eyes.

Of course another aspect of the Spice production was it meant having a group of fanatical troops loyal only to him. Already the Sith Lord had a battalion of Fedaykin whose ruthlessness would give even the Inquisitorius pause. This on top of the Noghri assassins coming out of Honoghr who were more loyal to him personally than the Empire gave Vader a better feeling about the eventual day when he would have to face his master and either triumph and replace him or be cut down.

Vader's hands clenched the railing as a wave of sudden anger surged through him. If only Padmé had not been poisoned against him! If only his children had lived! While embracing the Dark side, Vader saw the reality that diving into its depths as his master had, would only mean eventual ruin. Thus Vader had no plan to give up the Empire to his apprentice after being defeated. No, he would create a dynasty. Yet even with the new Spice treatment and cloning, whether he would ever be able to father children again was unclear. Thus the deaths of his unborn children cut him deeper than Obi-Wan's blades had.

"Your anger and hatred blind you...as usual Skywalker."

Vader's lightsaber leapt into his hand from his belt and was moving in a deadly arc such that any normal sentient would have been hard pressed to see the motion so quickly did the Sith go from motionless to explosive action.

However the lightsaber had no effect as it cut through the neck of the being who simply smirked as Vader positioned himself into a defensive stance in one fluid movement. If the lack of any contact rattled the Sith, it did not show.

"Once again Anakin we meet and once again I'm under your blade. However given how you killed me the first time we met, it can do little to me now." the Force ghost said as his smirk grew into a sardonic smile.

Vader deactivated his saber. While their words might stab, Force Ghosts could not affect the living. The Ghost was not familiar to him other than he was obviously a Tusken raider even if he wasn't wearing the traditional mask. The Tatooine gaffi stick was the dead giveaway. "That name has no meaning anymore," Vader rumbled. Another task the faux respirator did was continue to deepen his now restored voice.

The Force Ghost laughed, "Oh it has plenty of meaning. You may fashion yourself as Darth Vader and be the scourge of the new Empire, but it is Anakin Skywalker who still continues to shape events. You were just bemoaning the fact of the death of your children, yes? Well do I look in any way familiar to you, Anakin? Any spark of recognition? No? Of course not! Even as Jedi you let rage and anger and resentment color your senses. You sat next to a Sith Lord and detected nothing! And that night we met, did you even have a second of recognition before you struck me down?"

Vader raised his fist at the apparition, "Who are you! Why have you come? To taunt me? I have ways of dealing with such hauntings!"

The Force Ghost laughed again, this time with bitterness. "Oh you will not need to exorcise the likes of me. I've come back because the wheel is turning. If you weren't so weak, you might feel the universe changing on its axis, tipping on the fulcrum towards a new balance. And as for who I am, well that is easy. I'm your father."

"I have no father," Vader sneered.

Again the Force Ghost laughed. This time the bitterness mixed with real amusement. "Oh my son, please tell me you didn't believe that bantha poodoo Shmi gave to Jinn and Kenobi! I can't believe any son of my loins would fall for such a ruse! Of course you had a father! A father you killed the night you thought to rescue your mother from our camp. You were already falling into the cesspit of the Dark Side because you of all people should have known Shmi would not have been harmed. You could have boldly walked into the camp and challenged anyone of the warriors for her life. If you had, you would have found her life was mine. I, Karel of the Fedaykin, had finally amassed enough power to return and claim her and no one would gainsay me. Instead of the life of a Tusken slave you feared, she would have been my wife and cherished."

Vader was silent before he flatly replied, "I do not believe you."

Karel scowled, "Then your Master, both Jedi and Sith, obviously didn't teach you how difficult it is for those returning from the Force to lie. Especially since I was just a mere Fedaykin warrior. Who am I to dissemble so? I lived by the blade and I hoped to have died valiantly by it yet my end came ingloriously, cut down by my own son who didn't even feel a _**spark**_ of recognition! But I've come to have my revenge."

Vader laughed with dark amusement, "Nothing you can say 'father' can hurt me."

Karel smirked again, "Oh that's where you're wrong son. So very, very wrong. As I said, you just were bemoaning the loss of your children. My revenge comes in that my lineage continues. Your wife, the one you struck down almost as mindlessly as you did me, lived long enough to bear your children. The twins you had waited for with such anticipation."

"What?! You lie!" Vader shouted.

"Again you accuse me of what I cannot do," Karel snarled. "I only exist now in the Force and through the Force is truth. Your children live even as Padmé died birthing them. And now my grandchildren are out there right now. Maybe they are being trained as Jedi, maybe they are being raised as Rebels. Do they play together in ignorance of who their father is and his crimes? Or were they split up to hide them? Do you have twin boys or girls? Or maybe fraternal twins? You don't know and your anger and rage will keep it like that. As you said, Anakin Skywalker has no meaning for you anymore. And so Darth Vader will never be able to sense the children of the one time Jedi hero."

Vader seethed as the reality of the what he was hearing came crashing down upon him. The Ghost was right. He could deny it all he wanted but the likes of Karel would not be able to outright lie. He might, if he was wise in the ways of the Force to tell half-truths but it was apparent that he had cut his own father down while he was still gaining in power and wisdom. His own boasts of not being able to be hurt by the Ghost's words were already burning him with shame.

Karel smiled as if he could guess the turmoil his son was going through. "And because Darth Vader, Sith Lord that you are, you will not know your own children. Every time you take up that blade you are so very quick to use, every time you'll have to ask yourself, 'is this my child I'm killing?' Oh yes, your children will be raised to oppose the Empire. Maybe they will be told who you are. Maybe they will be kept ignorant. But be that as it may, the _will_ fight the Empire. And you are the Emperor's tool. His enforcer; his pet fallen Jedi."

Vader gritted his teeth in anger but kept silent. As powerful as he was, there were times when he could not sleep and the reality of what he truly was to his master was hard to ignore.

Karel twirled his gaffi stick around with a smug look on his ethereal face, "Oh and the true irony is the Emperor himself doesn't realize that the Jedi, at the last, were able to hide the children of Skywalker. But if he does find out, oh you can be sure he will send his pet Darth to kill them. So, my son, you will always have to question who you kill of a certain age from now on. Or know that some day, one of your children will face you, maybe with the same lightsaber you used to kill me in hand. In their eyes shall be the righteous fury of those who work to avenge the dishonored dead. And on that day, my revenge will be complete. For if they kill you or you kill them, it matters not. All that matters is my inglorious death shall be avenged by your pain."

Karel suddenly slashed his gaffi stick into the guard position as the Fedaykin dropped into the pose Vader knew as the rest position from which any manner of attacks could be made. "So be on your guard, Sith Lord. The sons or daughters of your loins are out there. Both shall test you but not on the battlefield you expect. Even now, at this very hour, one has begun a journey into the Force led by a mentor no one could have predicted. And in that child's hand is your old lightsaber. But don't worry, your other child may yet be the bigger danger to you and your master."

"You assume, father, that I will never find them; never work to make up for the actions that have brought me here," Vader said in a tight voice he knew reeked of uncertainty.

Karel dropped out of his martial stance and shrugged, "I do make the assumption because sadly I don't think you have it in you. But in the Force all things are possible. You wife Padmé, told Kenobi with her dying words she still sensed good in you. Was this her love for you talking or is there something under all that black armor worthy of the lineage you bear without any knowledge of where you truly come from? I cannot say for like you, I'm filled with anger and rage and thus I cannot see what is to come. All I can say is you and your children will meet and it is you who will have to make the amends. But Darth Vader could never do such things. So, I leave you with what I said earlier. As Darth Vader you are a force in this new Empire. Yet Anakin Skywalker's legacy continues to shape events. What you must ask yourself, my son, is are you Darth Vader or Anakin Skywalker or neither? If you cannot answer that question, then you have lost your children before you ever meet them."

Karel began to fade before he suddenly came back into focus. "Oh and son, do not misuse the worms. As much as the Fremen decried the transplanting of Shai Hulud from Arrakis, the worms have helped bring life to what would be lifeless deserts. Even selfishly, you are helping bring life to this world. Perhaps Padmé was right and even in your evil, you can still do good. Perhaps you should meditate upon that. Finding your lost Tusken roots might be your only hope of redemption in the eyes of Shai Hulud."

Vader silently watched as the Force Ghost of his father faded, the face no longer wearing the mocking sneer but a look of cautious hope. Like a dark statute to an evil God, Vader stood and thought upon what he had just learned. One could say his entire life had been completely upended. What he thought he had been and what he was now was now called into question. For all the mocking, Vader knew his father's last challenge was what he must focus on if he were to go forward with any of his plans. Who was he? He had been a slave, a padawan, a warrior, a hero, a Jedi, a Sith and a villain. Now he knew not only was he a father but one who had struck down his own father, inadvertently caused the death of his mother and directly brought about the death of his beloved wife. Now his future seemed to be on a collusion course with that of his own children who as his father said, had cause to strike him down.

Vader looked out upon the lava flows which had created Darth Vader and suddenly made a decision.

 **OoOoO**

Kemreit checked the manifest and grunted his agreement. The droid who had been waiting for confirmation turned without a word toward the shuttle. The Jacurutu cared little for the Fremen hatred of droids; they were simply another tool or weapon to be used.

The scarred face showed little emotion as he turned to the pilot, "Saabir, you know what the master wishes. Better to take in less profit than let the Jaktten get wind of our operations."

The other Jacurutu warrior shrugged, "The master was wise to pick Jakku for us to sell our excess Spice. The Jaktten have grown soft. They are a disgrace to their Fremen fathers. A drunk Fedaykin coming off a week bender at Arrakeen and two Tusken warriors with broken gaffi sticks and half-dead banthas could clear out a typical Jaktten sietch."

Kemreit's face didn't change but his eyes seemed to darken, "Disgraced or not, the master demands success and know you will not live long enough to meet your fate by his hands if you fail for I do not tolerate failure either. Keep to the Old Ways, keep yourself as sharp as your crysknife and do not lower your guard. Neither the Empire nor the Rebels can learn of what we do in Lord Vader's name."

"By the will of Shai Hulud, it shall be done, my naib," Saabir said as he clapped his right fist twice with his left hand before clasping them against his heart in the traditional Fremen show of acceptance of orders. "Yet I do have one question regarding..."

The Jacurutu naib quickly turned to see what had so stunned the pilot. What he saw made him blink in surprise. Coming from the elevator only a few of the Master's select servants used was a tall man dressed in a modified stillsuit. It looked Tusken made but there were obvious additions which made the suit double for armor as even chemically darkened, Kemreit could see the cortosis strips along the arms and legs. But it was the mask which drew the eye.

Again it was obviously of Tusken make but like the armor, it was black. Over the man's shoulder's was a cloak similar to the outer cloak favored by Kemreit's Tatooine cousins but instead of bantha hide, it seemed to be made up of closely woven chain links. Like the cortosis, the metal had been chemically darkened. Yet Kemreit was sure that the suit, mask and cloak could change color with but a touch of a button. The naib saw plenty of devices on the man's belt which might be a battery capable of delivering the charge necessary to change the specially treated materials into certain pre-determined colors. Many of the elite Fedaykin agents had such suits on all the worlds the Fremen had spread. But who was this son of Shai Hulud? For the blue of the Spice eyes blazed from behind the mask.

Yet the man's identity became evident to both Jacurutu as he neared. The power inherent in the Force was one clue, the other being the lightsaber mostly hidden among the various items on the man's belt. Both quickly went to their knees but were surprised to see the master quickly motion for them to rise. "When I am among you like this, treat me no differently than any other Jacurutu."

Both naib and pilot couldn't help but look at each other before both bowing their heads and saying as one, "As you wish, my master."

Vader shook his head, "Again, when I am like this, I am not your master. I come to you as but a learner. Saabir, take your leave as I have much to discuss with Naib Kemreit."

Again the pilot made the traditional gesture of acceptance, "As you wish, my lord." He quickly took his leave.

Vader turned to see the naib looking at him with calculating eyes. Outcasts and traitors that they might be, Vader knew all the Jacurutu naibs under his command were no fools. Kemreit proved this with his next words, "So if you are but a learner, I take it you are here to be trained then. I am a busy man for my master has given me many important tasks. I can't be bothered to play nursemaid."

Vader admired the bravado even as this was exactly how he wanted to be treated outside his Sith armor. "Nor will you. I require enough of your men to train me for the next month. By the end of such time it would be well worth it to you that I am able to ride a worm. And these men must be former Tuskens."

Again Kemreit's face showed little in the away of emotion but the Sith Lord could tell the naib was surprised, "It can be done and it shall be done but I question why it needs to be done?"

Vader made the gesture normally reserved when greeting or leaving a Sayyadina's presence, "Come now Naib Kemreit; I would have thought that even the Jacurutu would know of the value of being able to go out onto the sands to find oneself. Your master was born out there on the lava plains. He is of the fire and blacken stone. I, however, need to find what the sands can tell me. They may not be the sands of my youth, but by Shai Hulud's will, maybe I can find an answer."

Again Kemreit blinked in surprised and his normally stoic demeanor almost slipped. Suddenly a suspicion blazed in him. A suspicion which obviously was noticed.

"And Naib, all of this is to be kept most secret. Lord Vader will treat with extreme prejudice any leaks and even conjectures of why I must make this journey. Do I make myself clear?" The barely contained malice and violence was heavy in the words that Kemreit knew meant it was his Master talking.

Kemreit mimicked Saabir by bowing slightly and quickly giving a very heartfelt gesture of acceptance, "Yes my lord, it shall be as you say. In deed and thought; it shall be guarded on my life."

"On your life," Vader rumbled dangerously. Even without the now unneeded respirator, his voice made strong men tremble. "Now, summon your men. Lord Vader could be summoned at any time by the Emperor. Let the training commence as quickly as possible."

"At once but first, my lord, what shall you be called?" Kemreit asked.

Vader contemplated that, thinking on the old ways he knew the Tusken used to take on names due to their deeds or demeanor. "I shall be known as Alqatil."

Kemreit nodded even as he shuddered. A fitting name; a fitting name indeed.

 **XxXxX**

 **THE JUTLAND WASTES, EAST OF ANCHORHEAD, TATOOINE, 06 BBY – DAWN**

Luke pitched his voice as the Sayyadina had taught him as he gave out the ululating cry of safe travels as he watched the Old One dive into the sands. He doubted that the Voice sounded any different to the worm but it had been his only companion for the last ten day. It seemed a fitting send off.

As the last tip of the worm disappeared under the sands and the small electrical storm headed out towards the deep desert, Luke turned back to the entrance of a large cave. It was an oddity. Most rock formations on Tatooine tended to be large or if small, were grouped like small island chains. Finding just one outcropping and one with a natural cave no less was a step beyond rare. What was even more interesting was the bleached, calcified bones of a huge krayt dragon which the winds and time had fused into the line of rocks to one side of the cave mouth.

Luke made his way into the cave and quickly saw what he expected to see. Refuse and quite a few remains. Luke figured this cave had sheltered many sentients over the years, many never leaving. The Tuskens raiders were but one of the many dangers one found on the Tatooine dues.

Yet as much as Luke was not surprised at what he found, he also could feel there was something else. There was a hidden power nearby. A power which felt ancient in a way Luke could not explain. Like it came from an age when Tatooine was young and more vibrant and not the baked globe of sand and rock it was today. Yet to his Force senses, Luke couldn't feel anything. This was suspicious given that the absence of the Force was itself almost like a sign saying "Something is here!"

But Luke was no Jedi or Sith. He also was no ordinary Tusken either. Luke moved to what seemed to be as close to a center point of the cavern as he could and sat down in a lotus position. He took off his Tusken mask and stowed it. He slowly ate a food bar and drank some of his precious water. It was a good thing that there was ample bantha tracks in the area as that meant there was water somewhere nearby which was something Luke was going to have to go in search for soon if finding what he had come for took longer than a day or two.

He then meditated for a spell to help center himself as he had just completed a long worm journey. Finally Luke began to hum. This hum grew to a soft chant and finally a rhythmic song almost like a verbal Haka with directed shouts using the Voice echoing throughout the cavern. As Luke sang, he tuned his senses to the return echos. Sooner than he expected, he found what he had been looking for.

Luke stood and flexed his jaw to pop his ears. Using the Voice for echo-location was hard on one's ears but the Sayyadina had taught him enough that a touch of Force healing would deal with any damage to his hearing when he slept next. Now, however, Luke had a mystery to clear up.

He made his way to a section of the back wall of the cave which looked no different than the rest. Yet the echos had confirmed that there was a passageway behind the wall. All Luke had to do was divine how to open it. Luke carefully examine the wall. There was no obvious holes which might hide an aperture a droid could insert a probe into neither did Luke feel using the Force to smash his way in would work.

He contemplated the wall for a long time when he noticed one grove in the stone above his head. While not a small teen, Luke knew he had a lot of growing to do, especially given how tall his father was. Of course now that he knew who his parents were, he hoped he didn't end up with Padmé Amidala's short stature. As he looked up at the groove, he realized that to a typical adult, the groove would be a little over chest high; the perfect height to be seen and used.

That and Luke realized that the groove was just the right size for the standard make of the typical lightsaber. He unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and carefully raised it up and pushed it into the groove. At first nothing happened so Luke gave a bit of a push with the Force and with but a whisper of air, a door sized section of the wall moved inward to reveal a corridor as lights flickered on to illuminate the way.

Luke smiled, "Like taking meerkeel berries from a baby" He retrieved his lightsaber and kept it in his left hand while he drew his blaster from its holster. His friend Farok had been rather jealous at how good a shot Luke was even as Luke had consoled his friend that with the Force as his ally, his abilities couldn't help but be fantastic. With weapons at the ready, Luke began to carefully make his way down the corridor.

The corridor didn't go on for long and it was lined with various items which wouldn't look out of place in an emergency shelter. Luke wondered if this was an extra layer of deception in case some traveler managed spot the hidden door or if it simply was what it appeared. At the end of the corridor, Luke found a lift. There was no call button but simply a hand pad. Not seeing any other option, Luke holstered his pistol, took off his glove and placed his palm against the opening.

Like the outer door, at first nothing happened. Then there was a hum of energy and a slight groan which signaled a machine long inactive powering up. The lift door finally opened. Luke stepped in and looked around. It was just a basic lift and their three buttons on the control panel. None were labeled but there were slight smudges and nicks which indicated the top and middle button were the ones used the most. Luke figured that meant topside and then the main underside and maybe a lesser used level below that. Luke pressed the second button and as expected, the doors shut and the lift began a quick descent.

While a bit difficult to tell, it didn't seem to Luke they had gone too deep, maybe only a 100 meters or so. Still, given how hard it was to keep machinery working on Tatooine and how mining was something which not only attracted but enraged the worms, it was nothing short of astonishing. What Luke saw when the doors opened just fueled that thought.

Whoever had created this facility had obviously taken advantage of a natural underground cavern. In fact, Luke realized that if the rock outcropping topside was larger, it was a fair bet this cavern would be filled with water, collected by the Tusken over the centuries for a sietch. Yet instead of water, Luke found what looked to be some basic living quarters built into the side of the cavern. The rest of the cavern was dominated by a ship.

Given that he believed for the longest time that his father was a freighter pilot, Luke had studied ships a lot while growing up. That and his desire to become a pilot so as to leave Tatooine behind. Thus he was pretty sure it was an old style Dynamic freighter built by the Colonial Galactic Systems company based out of Salusa. That same design would later be used by shipbuilders in the Corellian system as the basis for the old XS freighters which had given way to the YT freighters so common in the skies around Mos Eisley and Anchorhead.

Luke walked around the freighter and could see that like so many of the YT freighters used by smugglers, this ship had been modified and sported a lot more weapons than was normal for this style of ship. At the nose of bridge, right below the main window, there was a picture of a black bird Luke recognized as being an Old Earth hawk. Like the eagle, the hawk still showed up in literature and art even though none had been taken with the colonists when they fled the Twelve Colonies with the Cylons on their heels. Just like the lion, bull and dragon, they were racial fossils kept alive in stories. The ship's name, the Ebon Hawk, was blazoned under the bird. For some reason the name seemed like something Luke had heard of before.

Beyond the weapons, it was apparent to Luke that the old spacer's lament that ships of today were nothing like those of old were not just drunk ramblings. There hadn't been a new Dynamic freighter build in over 1,500 standard years and even gather dust in this cavern, the Ebon Hawk seemed to gleam with power. Luke knew that many historians blamed the Jedi for helping the already stagnant Republic to grow even more moribund with many technologies being lost and new innovations frowned upon. Indeed he knew the bulk of the droids used by the Separatists were almost toys compared to some of the capabilities combat droids were said to have had back in the days of the Old Republic and earlier Colonial Empire.

Luke made his way over to the living area and over the next hour carefully checked everything out. Whoever had built the facility had left it in good condition. In quite a few areas, Luke recognized what appeared to be stasis fields operating. From the looks of it, they were there to keep food and medicinal supplies fresh. Luke also knew that those generators were just one aspect of technology which had been lost. He wondered if what they protected was still fresh given he knew that they only slowed down the passage of time and who knew how long this base had been hidden?

Still Luke found no clue as to why this base was here and what had drawn him to it. Whatever that ancient voice which had been calling had wanted, it certainly wasn't being chatty now. Luke decided he'd check the other level out before tackling the ship. He figured the ship was locked up pretty tight and powered down to help keep it from degrading with the passage of time given it was far to large to protect with a stasis field.

One very quick lift ride downward, Luke found himself in a very different place. While old, the style and décor of the upper level was clearly Galactic standard even if that standard was centuries out of date. This level felt wrong. The angles, the lighting and even the height of the corridor was off. Instead of a typical square corridor, it was a hexagonal with odd markings and piping which Luke couldn't tell if they were functional or decorative or both.

The odd corridor led to an antechamber which was empty except for a massive door opposite of the door Luke had just entered from. Luke carefully inspected everything given he couldn't shake this room could be trapped since unlike the cavern above, this room sang in the Force. Whatever was behind the massive door throbbed with power and potential.

Unlike his opening of the secret door in the cavern, it took almost a half an hour of experimenting when a simple and soft Force push against the door caused it to open. Luke wasn't sure what he was expecting behind the door but what he found certainly hadn't been anything like he'd seen before.

Again the design of the room was alien as was the the weird device which dominated the center of the room. It was an odd machine which almost seemed to be growing out of the floor. It had four flaps which helped to make it look like an alien mechanical flower. Luke had never seen the like.

What he had seen was the only other thing in the room. On a small pedestal which was obviously not original to the room was a pyramid shaped holocron. He had seen them enough in various vid-shows when he was younger as it was a popular trope to have someone find a lost Sith holocron, be corrupted and have to be saved by whoever the show's hero or heroine was. Of course all of those shows had been on external storage units kept by his Aunt and Uncle. None of those old stories were aired under the Galactic Empire or if something like it was, now it was the Jedi who were the enemy.

As Luke moved closer, two similar things happened. The alien flower machine's 'petals' opened and went flat against the floor. The inner workings were obviously some sort of holographic projector as a 3D projection of some sort of star map blossomed in the air above the machine. Similarly, the holocron 's sides had opened up to reveal the innards which Luke had no idea what function they had. Luke waited for some holographic message to appear as that is what holocrons were supposed to do. Yet there was nothing.

Yet as Luke waited and looked at the Star Map and tried to figure out what systems it was showing, there was a swelling of the Force behind him. Luke quickly turned, his lightsaber activating almost without conscious action on his part. However Luke quickly realized no weapon of his would be needed as he was confronted by what had to be a Force Ghost.

It appeared to be a human male but Luke couldn't tell as the being had a hood drawn tight over his head. "At long last, the fulcrum has arrived."

The voice, strong and powerful, was still like wind whispering through the rocks.

Luke frowned at this. Sayyadina Mariya often called him Little Nuqta instead of his Tusken name of Irtikaz. When he had asked others, he had been told it meant Fulcrum. "And where, exactly, have I arrived? Why have you been calling?"

The Force Ghost laughed which came out almost like a soft hiss. It reached up and took down its hood. Luke couldn't help but gasp in amazement at what he saw.

While wearing a mask, Luke recognized it immediately. It was a mask made famous in countless histories, documentaries and vid-shows. It was the mask of the Darth Revan, the fable Revanchist.

"Ah you recognize me, young Skywalker. Good. As to why you have been called, it is because your father failed to bring balance to the force. Oh he certainly brought the numbers of Jedi closer to that of the existing Sith but the amount of Force wielders has nothing to do with balance. And that balance must come to past soon or all may be lost."

Luke blinked at this. Was he being asked to take up some cause his father had failed at? "What may be lost? What do you mean?"

Darth Revan reached up and took off his mask. His face, stern and pale but Luke was surprised that his eyes lacked the yellow tinge of the Sith. "I mean that a storm is coming. An ancient storm, a storm whose signs even now people like the Fremen mistake. Their ancient myths and prophecy speak to them that their old oaths will finally be realized. They believe that they will be a storm that rages once more over the galaxy, purging it and refining it under the aegis of Shai Hulud."

Luke nodded, "Sister Ksenia speaks of this often."

A bitter smile broke out on Darth Revan's face. His words were laced with sarcasm, "For all the sight that the Spice gives them, the people of Shai Hulud are just as blind as the Jedi and Sith. They see the signs but cannot step outside their selves to allow their sight not to be colored by their own paradigms. Thus everyone is missing what should be obvious."

Luke held his tongue as it was apparent that he'd get more answer from the Ghost by listening.

"For you see everyone missed the point of the Butlerian Jihad, the forces that drove and the why behind it. But I know the why and because I stepped outside myself, I found what the true storm that is coming truly is a how it will strike with a fury no one is expecting. Not the Emperor and his pet Bene Gesserits, nor the remnants of the Jedi or any of the Reverend Mothers of Shai Hulud are reading the signs correctly. All they see is the coming war which is but just the typical banal squabble over power, influence and money. What is coming cares not for any of that."

The Ghost gestured to the Star Map, "In my journeys, I found ancient lore, fantastic machines and power, some as ancient as the Stargate makers of the Infinite Empire itself. Even with that, I knew it would not be enough to break the coming storm because I was flawed. For all my power, I would only bring envy and division. Any empire I forged would be one built of fear and the very people who would have to be trained to be able to defeat the coming danger would be the ones who would destroy my Empire before it could defend that which is coming."

"So you left?" Luke asked in a small voice.

The Ghost smiled sadly, "So I left. I gave up my Empire and took my fleets away and began to plan. I went to my death knowing that a scion from the line of Leto and Ghanima would be born and bring the balance needed to united this galaxy so it could survive. Because of your bloodline, there would be unity and fulfillment of ancient prophecies. Only one of your family could be the fulcrum that the new balance could be made. That is why you have been called. For it is upon you and your unmet sister that the balance must shift if our galaxy is to weather what is coming, It is why you were called and why I will train you."

Luke swallowed hard, "What is coming?"

"Death," Darth Revan replied with certainty in a voice which seemed to suck the very warmth out of the room.

 **XxXxX**

 **A/N** : And now we almost start kicking this story into gear. Obviously we have one or two "training" chapters to go through and maybe a few more before we catch up to A New Hope.

 **Tusken Names** : Most names in Dune are corrupted versions of Arabic names. In my case, I just went with mostly Arabic names. Thus Sabiha's nickname Albatala means petal. Sadly I wanted to use Fulcrum for Luke but in Arabic that concept is two words nuqta airtikaz. Yet airtikaz or irtikaz (the word is found not only in Arabic but other languages like Urdu) means concentration so I went with that. Vader's chosen name Alqatil means killer, man-slayer or assassin.

 **The Haka** : While the canon Atreides might all be very British looking, (even both actors who played Duke Leto were neither) it makes sense to me that Picon would be filled with colonists from traditional seafaring countries. So Picon would be an interest mix of Polynesians, Scandinavians and the like. Again, I see the first wave of colonists would be the specialists and those picked by their respective governments but the second larger wave would be people wanting to escape the trend towards a global culture to retain their own culture's traditions. So I can see people like the Maori (and many others) wanting to immigrate not only to leave a potentially dying planet but to keep their native culture from ending up like so many native cultures have become: mere shadows performed for tourists.

 **Early Reveal** : Vader isn't stupid. Anakin may have been brash but he was a general throughout the Clone Wars and then he helped create Palpatine's new Imperium. So not just hired muscle good with a lightsaber. So I can't help but think he'd rapidly start looking towards the future. I've always seen Darth Vader as being Lawful Evil in the mold of Doctor Doom who famously said, "The only freedom I take from my subjects is the freedom to do evil." Certainly there is a chilling fascism implicit in that but for all that Doom rules as a King with at least a veneer of ruling for the betterment of his subjects. It is apparent that Darth Sidious cares nothing but his own advancement. Everything he does is ultimately for him and his wants and desires and Vader knows this and knows that such Cult of Personality type governments cannot last. So I have no trouble with Vader's call to Luke in _Empire Strikes Back_ to rule as even in the horrible prequels it was evident that Anakin wanted to impose Order upon an unruly galaxy. Yet he did it less about himself than someone like Palpatine.

 **The Coming Storm** : Any bets on what is coming? I think I've given enough clues. (hint: it's not the Yuuzhan Vong!)


	5. Legacy

**DISCLAIMER THE FIRST** : If it relates to _Star Wars_ , _SG-1_ , _Battlestar Galactica_ or _Dune_ , you can bet I don't own any of it nor will I be making any money off it. Nope, not a dime even if I did grow up in the same town, went to the same high school and junior college that George Lucas did. More the pity.

 **PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : " _The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example._ " – _**Benjamin Disraeli**_ _– British politician, writer and UK Prime Minister. (1804-1881)_

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 04-28-2017

 **XxXxX**

 **STORY NOTE** : Wanted to give you all a heads up that for the next few chapters, I'm going to do a bit of jumping around in time. I'm doing this because otherwise it'll take far to long to get to "the good stuff" so just be aware some things done closer to 0 BBY might be a bit confusing till the flashback that explains it. Just be patient...all will be explained. Obviously pay attention to the BBY year listed.

Also, anything written ¢ _like this_ ¢ means it's being spoken in Gal-2 and as a reminder, this **_§ is someone using The Voice._** **_§_**

 **XxXxX**

 **CHAPTER FIVE – LEGACY**

 **XxXxX**

 _When it comes to politics, one could argue that inertia is the most powerful force in the universe. If the ship of state is going in one direction, then it tends to continue going in that direct even if many are unhappy with the course. Inertia is the bane of innovators, revolutionaries and rebels. It is also the best ally of the oligarchy or cult of personality dictator. Don't rock the boat; everything is fine; hold to our sacred traditions...go back to sleep._

 _The new emperor Palpatine had a lot going for him after the Jedi Purge. He had a scapegoat in the Jedi Order as well as the Jedi who escape could be used as convenient boogeyman to use to push various security measures that would normally be very unpopular. The Republic, long known as a bastion of freedom and democracy had been neither for a long time. Instead it was a rigidly centralized government whose Senate was in reality a false-front for the industrial interests such that the Republic was actually an oligarchy._

 _This oligarchy controlled the media, most of the economy and such things as fashions. In short they controlled what citizens mostly saw as news, what was supposedly fashionable on 'in' and their paychecks depended on a certain order. To these oligarchs, Palpatine's new Empire meant a better chance of becoming even more wealthy than they already were. Anyone threatening the new order meant risking alienation, poverty and being seen as a sympathizer to those who had tried to destroy the Republic._

 _Of course plenty did just that. Even though the Republic hadn't been an actual republic for a long time, the **idea** of the Republic was strong. It had also not gone unnoticed during the Clone Wars how non-humans tended to suffer much more than humans. Identical fleets on both sides could go to almost identical planets and in most cases, the human planet was merely interdicted while a non-human planet more often than not suffered orbital bombardment. Darth Sidious' hand through Count Dokku was long and even though much of the Separatists leaders were non-human, still their side killed a lot of the same sentients Republic forces were killing in the course of supposedly protecting them._

 _Then there is the fact that even though Sidious had truly done a masterful double-backstab, the Separatists and Republic loyalists didn't just throw up their hands and quit. Far from it; much of the first decade of the Empire was Emperor Palpatine desperately trying to put out fires lest they grow too large and the moribund galactic citizens realized what had **really** happened._

 _Thus inertia saved his nascent empire._

 _However, it also meant that elements, separatists, loyalist, rebels and criminals all had time when the Empire could not focus on any one of them. Palpatine simply did not have the resources to defeat his many enemies in detail. That it took 19 years before he could dissolve the Senate showed the handicap he was under. One might argue that Palpatine was only an emperor , power-wise, for a few short years before he met his fate._

 _Of course his opponents also labored under many hardships. The biggest was the realization of Darth Sidious' Sight via the Dark Side meant that anything they did might be already have been predicted and countered. Thus all factions had to do feints within feints because they could not risk that their plans had been seen through the Force._

 _Little did they know the reality was Darth Sidious' famous Sight was almost useless after the Jedi Purge. The inertia of the Jedi Order had made them predictable and thus Sidious could easily see and plan and his remarkable success is testament to how stagnant the Jedi and the Republic had become. Yet with the galaxy suddenly in a massive state of flux after the fall of the Jedi and the formation of the Empire, there simply was too much going on for the Emperor and even his secret cadre of Bene Gesserit witches to accurately predict._

 _Yet the forces opposing him did not know that. Thus the period from 15 BBY to 05 BBY was marked with caution and restraint. The only exception would be in the Outer Rim in and around Hutt Space. However the Emperor decided, like almost all of those who had sat at the head of the galactic civilization, that the Outer Rim could wait and when things calmed down, it would be a simple matter to send a battle-fleet or two to restore a semblance of order. Such pogroms had happened like clockwork every 20 years or so going back centuries._

 _Unlike previous leaders, however, Emperor Palpatine would come to regret not heeding some of the intelligence reports coming from the edges of his Empire._

 _ **Musings in The Force**_ _– Princess Irulan as spoken to Winter Celchu_

 **XxXxX**

 **HUTT CASTLE, NORTHERN DUNE SEA, TATOOINE, 05 BBY– TWILIGHT**

"Irritated recitation; Master I do not understand why you do not order a simple orbital bombardment. Surely your talents are wasted on the likes of Jabba the Hutt and his pathetic retinue."

Luke lowered his binoculars and turned to look at the aptly blood-colored droid to his right. "And I told you, HK-47, that there is more to power than just what comes out of a blaster. Anyone with a large enough ship could hype in and blast Jabba's palace but that gives no legitimacy and certainly no closure. Just like the Emperor did, I need less to end Jabba as to step into his shoes."

To Luke's left came a blart of sarcastic whistles which made Luke smile, "Yes Teethree, I'm well aware that metaphor fails in regards to a Hutt. The point is I have to show I have the personal power to keep challengers to a minimum and to the various cabal members along the Rim and the crime lords of Nar Shadda that Jabba's empire is intact, able to defend itself and ready for business as usual."

"Cheer up, Alqatil; there will be plenty of targets for our blades and blasters," Luke's old friend Farok said with slap to the back of the assassin droid. Luke's adoptive tribe had quickly given the droid an appropriate Tusken name after seeing HK's precision in murder and mayhem. He'd practically had become the Fedaykin mascot which really was amazing given that the Tuskens didn't like droids. The memories of the Butlerian Jihad were still fresh but time had let a pragmatism seep into the various tribes. Only the Fremen of Arrakis kept their planet free of droids outside of the capital of Arrakeen.

"Placating rejoinder; if you say so. Sadly the level of death and destruction will probably be of a low order given the abysmal state of Jabba's mercenaries. Things were much more lethal the last time I was on this miserable sand-pit of a planet," HK-47 said with the same resigned tone Luke had been hearing for the last two years. Luke had to admit, for a droid, HK-47 took great pride in his job and just putting a perfectly placed blaster bolt between the eyes of an opponent wasn't enough if Revan's old droid didn't feel them to be worthy enough.

"Don't worry HK, I'm sure we'll be dealing with Black Sun operatives and Imperials soon enough," Luke said. "Both Ksenia and Sabiha have remarked upon it. Besides, with what Revan has shown me, we'll be swimming in enemies with a decade or so."

Ignoring the droid's put upon sigh, Luke looked to his left and right. A few subtle hand gestures and his query was relayed up and down the line. All was ready. While the ferocity of Tusken warriors was renown and the elite Fedaykin feared, there was only so much one could do in the face of technology. The area around Jabba's palace was heavily mined and littered with hidden gun emplacements. The castle itself was built away from the sand so the Tuskens couldn't attack with Worms either.

On the face of it, Hutt Castle seemed impregnable to infantry assault and had enough shields and firepower to make a concerted attack with ground and hover vehicles to last long enough for Jabba's forces to consolidate and beat back any known force on Tatooine.

As Luke watched the 'at the ready' signals come back to him, he had to smile. Jabba had no real defense for what was coming as it had not been seen in over a thousand years.

 **OoOoO**

Bib Fortuna looked at the monitor and frowned. It wasn't often that supplicants would show up at Hutt Castle but it it happened enough not to be surprising. What was surprising was it usually was some down-on-their-luck family or petty noble who had come to beg Jabba for mercy or sanctuary. Fortuna wasn't sure what to make of a human teenager in Tusken gear and what looked like an antique protocol droid and even more antiquated T3 astromech droid. Perhaps the boy had found the antiquated droids and was thinking of selling them? It made a certain sort of sense given EV-9D9's predilection for torturing recalcitrant droids to pieces was well known.

With a gesture, Fortuna signaled the guards to open the out bailey door. He was bored and so he'd talk to this boy himself. It might prove a slight amusement on a slow day. At the very least the boy's screams in the Rancor pit would cheer up his master who had been moody of late given the moves against many of his operations here on Tatooine and elsewhere. An incipient gang-war was always worrisome but in this case neither Fortuna nor his master had been able to find any inkling of who was behind the attacks. A moody, irritable Hutt was a dangerous boss to have so Fortuna was happy for any potential distraction for himself and perhaps for his master as well.

Fortuna and his two Gamorrean bodyguards made their way down to the bailey where the human and his two droids waited. Fortuna was surprised to see that by the slight movement of the protocol droid's head that it had tracked the various hidden gun-emplacements which were targeted on the trio. From the Tusken clothes, Fortuna was confident the boy probably had at least a knife and hold-out blaster. The astromech droid, however, could be armed with quite a number of things. He knew that the newer R2 units were mostly filled with tools but the old T3 designs could almost double as combat droids with the right modifications.

Still not even a fully kitted out astromech droid could successfully deal with the firepower trained on it to say nothing of the droid having to protect a mere boy. As Fortuna near, he did get a queer feeling in his stomachs regarding the protocol droid. There was just something...off about it. It mattered not. EV-9D9 would unlock any and all of its secrets.

The moment he stopped in front of the boy, Fortuna was surprised to see him bow slightly and give the Tusken hand-gesture of respect. What was surprising and made his face break into an angry sneer was the gesture was from a superior to an inferior.

"Honored Fortuna, I am Luke Skywalker and I am here to ask that I may be granted an audience with the great Jabba the Hutt," The boy said in a surprisingly cultured voice for a desert rat. Although the Twi'lek had to admit there was something disturbing about the blue upon blue eyes of the human. They almost seemed to glow.

"¢ _And why would the Great Jabba waste his time with a desert rat like yourself? For that matter why are you wasting my time? I do not interrupt my master's day for a rude human with droids older than this castle!_ _"_ Fortuna said in a haughty voice the castle denizens knew meant danger.

"¢ _Probably because this desert rat has this castle surrounded by enough Tusken warriors hungry for the unearned water in each of it's inhabitants to give even the mighty Jabba the Hutt pause. Beyond that, my droid here has gotten irritatingly testy given it hasn't killed anyone in over a standard month. So feel free to reject my request for an audience._ ¢" the boy said calmly.

Fortuna blinked in shock. Not only had the boy spoken in Gal-2, almost unheard of among the Tuskens, but this mere slip of a human had boldly walked into Jabba's palace and was threatening him!

Fortuna looked into the eerie eyes of the boy for over a minute. Finally he scoffed, ¢ _While I admit there is something odd about you, I really have no time for such nonsense. Grink, Ohrk, kill him._ ¢"

With a squeal of pleasure both his bodyguards surged forward, both dropping their axes and closing for the tactile pleasure of ripping the boy to pieces with their bare hands. Fortuna was only half turned away towards his office when the happy squeal of Grink turned into a strangled, wet gasp. Fortuna turned back while drawing his blaster to see Grink on all fours vomiting up blood and his last meal. Ohrk was almost twirling in circles, stabbing at the air with his boot knife. To Fortuna's amazement, the Gamorrean's head suddenly took a blow out of thin air and with a sickening crack, Ohrk's head twisted to one side and he collapsed.

Before Fortuna could shout out a command to blast the two droids which hadn't even budged, a blur to his right coalesced into the boy whose crysknife was against his neck, "¢ _I'm sure you're thinking about giving the attack order. I wouldn't if I were you. Now...how about that audience?_ ¢"

Unfortunately for Fortuna, the attack order was already on his mind and the boy's reference to it made it even easier to accidentally blurt out, "¢ _Kill them!_ ¢"

"Wrong answer!" Luke yelled as he did a Force Jump backwards, flipping as he did so to remain facing the Twi'lek. In a fluid motion he sheathed his crysknife which was covered with Fortuna's blood as the young warrior had slit the Twi'lek's throat as part of his jump. His lightsaber had barely activated before he had to deflect the first blaster bolt shot his way. "HK! Extreme prejudice!" Luke ordered as he moved in front of T3. While the droid had impressive shields whose technology had been lost over 500 years before, Luke didn't want to needlessly drain them when not needed.

"Acknowledgment!" HK-47 confirmed with an almost electronic cackle of glee. Two lightsabers dropped from hidden arm compartments and the assassin droid wasted no time beginning to deflect the incoming fire back at the gun emplacements. He rapidly switched targets to the horde of Gamorreans and other guards which began to pour into the outer bailey.

Luke allowed himself to sink into the Force. He knew Revan's droid preferred his Zabrak battle canon or Baragwin disruptor rifle or even his personally enhanced pair of Geno-Haradan blaster pistols but after being around some of the best the Jedi and Sith had to offer, HK was _very_ proficient with lightsabers. Enough so that Luke felt he could have easily killed the famous Clone War cyborg General Grievous. He also knew HK was better on the attack and Luke's connection to the Force made it easier for him to defend against the incoming blaster fire.

Not that a Tusken trained warrior would so passively cede the initiative. After a minute or so, Luke had recognized a pattern to the fire and two Force pushed thermal detonators later had all the automated guns either destroyed or firing indiscriminately at friend and foe alike.

"Teethree, you're up. Get jacked in and bring it all down. I'm sure Farok is worried there won't be anything left for them to fight if this goes on too long." Luke said as shifted his defense to allow the droid access to a side office that previous visitors had confirmed had enough of a connection into the castle's computer network for T3 to hack into. Once in, the droid would be able to drop the castle's defenses and turn on the safety lane through the minefield. Jabba was going to fine that command and control mines made it easier for a defender to control his minefield but left him vulnerable to just this sort of infiltration.

As Luke watched HK bloodily cut his way through Jabba's men, he had to smile that maybe infiltration was probably not the best description of the situation.

 **OoOoO**

Farok may not have the Sight like his cousin Sabiha but many of the Fedaykin elite were sensitive enough to get a feeling of how a battle was going. Nothing like the fable battle precognition of the likes of the legendary Bastila Shan but more of sensing energy. Like the feeling before a storm, Farok felt the build-up of probabilities and had already given the "Prepare" signal before his comm actually blinked the "all clear" signal.

"Attack!" Farok yelled as he and his men burst forth with frightening speed. The few of Jabba's men who were not panicking or watching the fight going on in the outer bailey were stunned to see the empty sands around the castle erupt with scores of Tusken Warriors. The dunes echoed with the ululating war cry and the words, "For Shai Hulud!"

 **OoOoO**

"What now Irtikaz?" Farok asked as he inspected his crysknife for any chips. Around him the men and women fighters were dealing with the wounded, preparing corpses for water rendering and checking for booby-traps. To one corner was the odd scene of HK-47 giving advice to various droids who were torturing a black command droid. It was an odd sight and just made Farok feel that droids were odd beings which were better left to others.

The castle was mostly taken and was already being made ready for the expected counter-attack. A trio of worms had brought in more fighters and T3 had already flushed the castle's computer system of any hidden surprises and cut it off from Jabba's throne room. Once again Farok marveled at how much technology must have stagnated since the droid had last been active give the ease the supposedly antiquated droid could hack the 'modern' system so easily.

Of course said throne room had turned out to also be a very strong panic room. Even now Luke stood before the massive blast door trying to figure out how to get past it. Farok's young friend's face was set in the tight look of concentration which had prompted his Tusken name.

Finally Luke shook his head, "Well I guess we're back to conniving and deceit. I'm not powerful enough in the ways of the Force to uh...well force the door and Teethree says it's all manually controlled and the entire area has enough explosives to make any attempt at physical entry through borers or shape charges would end badly."

"And the longer we wait, the longer Jabba's forces have to counter-attack," Farok said with a frown.

Luke shrugged, "I'm not so worried about that. I have full confidence in our brothers and sisters. I'm sure most of Jabba's people around the planet are quite busy right now."

"But we Tuskens have never done well against ships, Irtikaz," Farok reminded the younger warrior.

"I know, which is why I am going to hurry with the deceit part. Luckily with Fortuna dead, I'm betting that Jabba has probably killed Fortuna's second given that she would be the one to tell Jabba how badly things are going. Which leaves that simpering Quermian, Raakel Toff, as the one I'm figuring will answer our parley call."

Farok scoffed, "That waste of water! My father had to deal with that wretch when Jabba's sail-barge broke down near one of our spice patches. I think he didn't strangle that long neck only because it would be a stain on his honor to kill such a womp rat turd."

Luke smiled, "Well hopefully we won't be wasting his water but that long neck is what I'm counting on him wanting to save. Right now I'm thinking Raakel rightfully thinks he has a better chance of getting out alive with us than being cooped up with Jabba."

Luke made his way over to the one monitor connected to the room. Using a slight Force push, he activated the screen. After a moment he moved closer with T3 beside him. Between the Force and T3's shields, he was sure he'd be able to survive if there was a trap. Luckily it was in Jabba's best interest to drag things out with talks and the Hutt was not known for just killing people he really had a grudge against when he couldn't personally see it.

After a moment the face of the Quermian Luke had expected to see came on. As expected, Luke could tell he was **_very_** stressed. Before the sentient could say a thing, Luke cut him off, "Save it Raakel. We own this castle and Jabba has ships on the way. Right now he might think all he has to do is hold on but I don't really need this castle so I'm perfectly fine with just blowing it up, and you all with it. However, that isn't what I came to do."

"Wha...what did you come to do?" the Quermian stuttered out.

Luke sighed, "I'm here to do exactly what I told your boss about before Bib got stupid and dead. I'm Luke Skywalker and _**§ I'm here for audience with Jabba the Hutt. I have information that I think Jabba needs to hear and it has bearing on his empire. §**_ An empire, I might add, which is in trouble."

Farok marveled how subtle of a change in inflection and power Luke's words suddenly had in them. All around the room, the more sensitive warriors all turned to look in Luke's direction.

One did not get to be as high up in a serious criminal organization by being stupid even if one was a cowardly, simpering sycophant like Raakel. "And the great Jabba is to believe that you just happened to have hordes of Tusken warriors at your beck and call in case Bib rejected your request?"

Luke smiled, "Oh no; those warriors were put into place because I figured that Fortuna might not take me seriously enough. I am fairly confident that Jabba is taking me very seriously. So, now that I have got his attention, _**§ perhaps we can finally have that chat? §**_ "

Raakel's head bobbed on his impossibly long neck, "And all we have to do is open the door; like I am too stupid to fall for such an obvious ploy!"

Luke sneered, "What? Do you think I'm using some Jedi mind trick? Through a monitor? Well here is how I see it. You still have access to sensors, right? My droid says so at least. So you know where we are and thus if I clear everyone out, you'll know it's just me _**§ when you open the door.**_ _**§**_ Or is Jabba afraid of me? I figure he's been around long enough not to have some defenses against the likes of me. Or has he gone soft?"

A roar and angry words in Gal-2 which Luke couldn't make out came from behind the Quermian causing him to cringe. Finally after Jabba's rant died down, Raakel said, "The great and powerful Jabba fears no mere human and agrees to your terms. Clear your warriors and your droids out of the hall and we'll open the doors. You realize we **_will_** shut them again once you are inside."

Luke shrugged, "Of course you will. Again, just as Jabba should be able to defend against me, I am confident I can handle myself in your hands. As I said, _**§ I am here to talk and make a proposition to Jabba. §**_ A lot of bloodshed and lost water could have been avoided if Fortuna had actually asked Jabba about my request instead of letting his ego get the better of him."

Raakel's beady eyes squinted even more than usual as he pursed his lips, "We'll be waiting." and the connection cut off.

Farok whistled softly, "I can't believe he fell for that."

Luke turned to his friend with a grin, "It's all in _the Voice_!"

 **OoOoO**

Luke walked into the throne room and took notice of where he knew had to be the area which led to the Rancor pit. He made sure to stay away from that. There were plenty of stories of how many of Jabba's supposed friends, allies, enemies and just people who had the bad luck of rubbing the Hutt the wrong way had ended up in that pit. After taking note of the mood of the room, he deactivated his lightsaber and bowed while giving the Tusken hand-gesture of respect from one equal to another.

Around him, there was various gasps from those who recognized the motion but Jabba simply glared at him while puffing on his pipe as if the Hutt didn't have a care in the world.

"You are a busy crime-lord, so I will get right to it," Luke said in a voice pitched so everyone could easily hear it. "For the last two years I've have been training in many arts thought lost. My teachers have been...unexpected as they are unusual. Yet while I've honed my skills in the Force and continued the martial training of my adoptive Tusken family, I have also been trained in the ways of the galaxy. In regards to politics and commerce my teacher has been quite...irritated at the state of the galaxy. He feels you and your fellow crime-lords on Nar Shadda and around the Outer Rim are not taking up the opportunities which are just there for the taking. Thus I felt it would be best if I brought his concerns to your attention."

Jabba was silent before with an irritated puff of smoke from his hookah, he rumbled, "¢ _For what? Or was this all an elaborate way to rid yourself of Fortuna so you could take his place?_ ¢"

Luke smiled, "Ah, that is a scenario I had not thought of. Sadly I feel I would make you a poor consigliere. As for the why I'm doing this, it's a bit personal. I grew up an orphan and it only was a few years ago did I learn who my true parents were. Both were over-achievers. At the age I lost my Aunt and Uncle, my father managed to help defend an entire planet from invasion. A planet my mother, only few years older than my father, was currently queen of. By the time my parents were my age, both had continued to do things which are still well known. So I have a lot to live up to but Tatooine being what it is, doesn't give me a lot of opportunities to excel. So what to do?"

Jabba was silent even though his eyes shifted briefly to a nearby screen Luke was sure was giving him updates to the arrival of his rescue forces. The need to delay was probably the only reason Jabba was not ranting at him and letting him talk. The Hutt made a flippant 'go on' gesture to which Luke bowed his head slightly.

"So to make my mark, I could perhaps become a pod-racer but sadly my father already became the first human to win the Boonta Eve Classic and he was still a slave when he did it."

Not only did this cause Jabba to choke a bit on his drink but it caused excited whispering among the watching entourage. While not well known out in the galaxy at large, the eventual fate of the human slave who had won that fateful race was a legend on Tatooine. A few of the more astute were then able to backtrack and guess who Luke's mother had to be given she had been a queen.

Luke looked around at the various sentients talking excitedly and frowned, "What? Did none of you think about my name? Did you think I was just some orphan making up a history for himself by talking the name of a vid-show heroes? No, I _**am**_ a Skywalker, like my Jedi father before me."

Jabba wiped his mouth and began chuckling like a breathy volcano erupting, "¢ _Well, well well; I guess you are no ordinary desert rat after all. I also see why you are here. You need my help to protect you given if the Inquisitorius doesn't find you first, the Emperor will eventually sniff you out. He'll likely send Lord Vader given he's been to Tatooine before._ ¢"

Luke laughed, "Oh I'm sure he would...especially given Lord Vader grew up here. But that's not why I'm here. Besides, I doubt you could protect me from dear old dad."

The excited whispers gave way to gasps and even more frantic conversation at the idea that Lord Vader was actually the supposedly deceased Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker.

"No, I'm here because my mentor's mate ended up with a rather remarkable droid. A droid that even after all these centuries, you might recognize...even though history thought him to be a human. Oh he played everyone in the Old Republic and on Nar Shadda. He's shown me how badly things have gotten and my mentor has shown me that a storm is coming. There is no time to lose and so as much as I have a lot more to learn, I'm just going to have to juggle my studies while I'm running your criminal empire...well it'll my empire after today."

Jabba scowled before laughing a rather intimidatingly evil laugh, "¢ _And how are you going to do that, youngling?_ ¢"

Luke's eyes suddenly seemed to blaze with power, "I'm going to ask very nicely that you step down and give up your position to me." While the tone hadn't changed, many of the sentients in the room could feel something was happening.

Jabba was silent for a moment while both Hutt and Human seemed to be locked in a staring contest before Jabba again laughed. This time with amusement, "¢ _Stupid boy! Did you really think someone barely a padawan could use your Jedi mind tricks on me? I've have Master Jedi try and make me change my mind. What chance did you think you had?_ ¢"

Luke continued to stare down the laughing Hutt, "I don't believe in chance; I believe in the Force. For through the Force my chains were broken and I've gained the knowledge and serenity to become one with the Force. Thus I feel confident you _will_ turn your criminal empire over to me."

The feeling of power, like standing on the dunes before an electrical storm intensified yet Jabba didn't seem fazed and he continued to laugh, "¢ _For all your lineage and having some Tuskens at your back, you miscalculated badly if you felt an old Jedi trick would allow you to beat me. It won't even allow you to get out of this room alive!_ ¢"

Luke smiled and suddenly the feeling of energy in the room disappeared as if someone flipped a switch, "Ah see that's where you're wrong, oh great and powerful Jabba. Firstly I'm not a Jedi and while my mentor spent a lot of time as a Darth, I'm not a Sith either. No, I'm something unexpected; something the likes of the Bene Gesserit and the Emperor failed to see coming. I have many weapons at my disposal and while the Force is my ally, you're right about one thing. I knew any sort of Force mind domination against you would fail but what _you_ don't realize is that it _does_ weaken you enough for me to do what I said I was going to do."

"¢ _That being what, whelp?_ ¢" Jabba rumbled ominously. At the tone, many of the sentients around the room drew weapons.

"What I said I was going to do; I'm going to ask nicely," Luke said with a playful grin. "But before that, _**§ I think you need to prove your worthiness to rule.**_ _**§**_ You let a boy bring your castle down around you; your empire is under attack by an unknown enemy. _**§ You must prove yourself or your minions will question why they let you lead them.**_ _**§**_ While you sit there smoking and watching your playthings dance, your empire is crumbling. _**§ Where is the power of the great and terrible Jabba the Hutt? §**_ The other crime-lords are watching; watching and laughing. _**§ But you can prove your strength, prove your worthiness. Fight the Rancor. You fight the Rancor, §**_ mount it's head behind your throne and everyone will know your power. _**§ You just have to fight the Rancor. §**_ Or are you too scared to _ **§ fight the Rancor §**_ after sending so many others into the pit? Are you just going to sit there and cower till your forces come to rescue you like a baby bantha cornered by a krayt dragon or are you going to prove your worth by _**§ fighting the Rancor? §**_

The room grew quiet as Luke's voice echoed around the room. While directed at the massive being on it's throne, the Voice captivated everyone in the room with the idea. Within moments one of the guards cried out, "Fight the Rancor!" Soon the room was cheering on Jabba to fight the Rancor.

Jabba himself had a confused look and glazed eyes. Seeing the Hutt hesitate as his minions chanting for him to fight, Luke switched back to the Force; his eyes blazing with power, "Show us Jabba, show us all how a true leader can defeat such a foe! Fight the Rancor."

Jabba suddenly slammed a fist down on a nearby control panel and just as Luke had predicted, a certain part of the floor opened up. Jabba then touched another control on his wrist comm bracelet and with a buzz of suspensors, Jabba began to hover. He gestured to one of his guards who quickly gave Jabba a halberd like weapon Luke knew to be favored by the ancient Hutts. With another touch to his wrist, Jabba lowered himself into the pit which was met with a mighty roar.

The crowd gathered around the pit even as Luke smiled and walked over to the now vacant control area to the left of Jabba's throne. By the time Luke had the door open to let in Farok and his warriors in, Jabba had stopped screaming and the grisly sounds of the Rancor feeding was met with shock as their master's death finally snapped Jabba's minions out of their Voice induced haze only to find themselves surrounded by Tuskens with weapons trained upon them.

"What do we do with this lot, Irtikaz?" Farok asked.

"Has Ksenia arrived?" Luke asked as he continued to scroll through the information on the various control panel's screens.

"She has," Farok confirmed.

"Then let her mind-wipe the slaves and the entertainers. As for the rest, let them fight for their lives. Mind-wipe those who survive. You know what type of sentients we need," Luke said knowingly.

Farok smiled in a way which would scare small sentients, "I do indeed. I doubt we'll get many from this soft lot but if anything it will be entertaining. What about the Rancor?"

Luke shrugged, "Ask Sabiha; she was the one who felt the beast might have some purpose."

Farok laughed, "She just wants it as a pet so if she becomes Sayyadina she will have another way to punish those who break the law."

Luke made a face, "Hmmm...I can actually see that. Well I've already used Jabba's codes to send the rescue force away. I'm having them land at Anchorhead; alert our forces there. We need to take the ships but kill only those we have to. We need those pilots and other support staff alive if we are to keep our new criminal empire afloat."

Farok was already keying in orders into his comm unit, "It shall be done, Irtikaz. Of course you know the other lords will react. I'm betting it won't be long before Nar Shadda sends a fleet."

Luke turned away from the monitors; T3 could find anything useful faster anyway, "Longer than I think you realize. The crime-lords cooperate when they have to but it takes them awhile before they can do it in a way where they are safe from the danger of being back-stabbed by each other. It gives me a bit of time to prepare for them."

Something in Luke's voice caused Farok to look up from his comm unit, "You are leaving?"

Luke nodded, "As soon as I can get back to the Ebon Hawk. As I told Jabba, all of the crime-lords have been ignoring opportunities just laying there to be taken by anyone willing to look. While I admit G0T0 brought up many great points I intend to implement, Tatooine teaches never to throw anything of value away. The Empire will wish they hadn't written off the Clone Wars so easily. There is treasure aplenty hidden out in the debris fields of the Outer Rim. Treasure I will forge into the knife I will cut off the head of the Empire with."

Farok grinned like a hungry dewback, "Shai Hulud speed the day!"

Luke's answering grin was quite feral as well, "As I told Jabba, my parents left quite a legacy. It's going to take a lot to top it. Taking out the man who corrupted my father into killing my mother and grandfather seems a good place to start."

 **XxXxX**

 **BITTER DREGS BAR, TARKINTOWN, ALDEBRAN PLAINS, LOTHAL, 05 BBY – EMPIRE DAY**

Obi-Wan entered the bar with an air of confidence he actually didn't feel. He'd been playing a certain role ever since he'd made contact with the Spectres but it still felt alien to him. That even as every day which passed cemented his new identity into the minds of those around him, Obi-Wan still felt that someone would suddenly shout, "It's him!"

Still as he made his way to where the Ghost's pilot waited for him, Obi-Wan knew his cover had a lot of internal consistency. It was almost unheard of for non-Mandalorians to have armor of the type that Obi-Wan had been gifted by the long dead Sattine. The tattoos he now sported were authentic right down to their hidden meanings thanks to Sabine Wren. Not only were the tattoos beautifully rendered, but she assured him that any Mandalorian would take it as a given that Obi-Wan was one of their people.

That he was an old warrior, often down on his luck and living in the past was helped by what was called a "brush of spice" in that Obi-Wan's eyes had taken on spots of the blue hue associated with spice users...or addicts. As it happened, during his time on Tatooine, Obi-Wan had grown to appreciated the Spice in ways his younger self had scoffed at in long conversations with Anakin. Now he regularly took spice treatments which kept him fit and looking younger than his actual age. His contacts allowed him to get the good stuff similar to ones used by the elites throughout the galaxy and not the trash or placebos which most people thought was Spice.

Plus his living on Tatooine for as long as he had allowed Kenobi enough resistance to the Spice that when he was 'in character' any spice he used wasn't going to be a problem. Mostly it was just Spice coffee as it was easier to make it look like he was using more than he actually was, but occasionally the offered spice stick couldn't be politely refused if he was to stay in character. Obi-Wan was always careful because the last thing the Jedi Master wanted to go through was the withdrawals of Spice Agony. Again, like the tattoos, it made a lot of people look at his eyes and the stereotype of the washed up Clone War fighter or mercenary leapt to mind. Few ever looked again which suited the Jedi just fine.

"Davrel Kex, what crime did I do which had fate bring you to my table as punishment?" Hera asked as he sat down across from the blue Twi'lek pilot. "I know I don't owe you any credits, if that's what you're here for."

Obi-Wan laughed. It was expected of him but there was real humor involved given that Hera actually did owe him quite a few credits as she continued to try and beat him in pazaak. She just couldn't admit that his long experience during travel and down-time in the Clone Wars had given Kenobi and advantage in the game which was tough to match. Kanan, bless the younger Jedi's heart, had also assured Hera he wasn't using the Force even to the point of overseeing some games. Unlike most of the other Spectres, Hera refused to give up and kept vowing the next hand would see Kenobi going down.

"Now Hera, can't a man sit for a spell and see if there is work to be had?" Kenobi asked. Around the various areas of Lothal, Davrel Kex had become known for taking odd jobs whenever he needed the credits. It was a cover which allowed Kenobi to do a lot of spying while practically being in plain sight. Again, even trained Imperials saw what they expected to see. It helped whenever he met some new trooper or officer who at first saw him as a threat until he took his helmet off.

Of course some of the graffiti, added weathering and fake patches to his armor completed the look given how he dyed his beard and hair to make it look salt-and-pepper grey. All an all, he was just another out-of-work merc trying to hustle enough credits to go back to drinking and gambling their life away as they told stories of their old glory days. Again, Kenobi's time during the Clone Wars meant he didn't have to lie much or make up stories; he just had to modify the stories from those he actually had lived.

Sometimes, though, it became less of an act and the Jedi did indeed feel like an old warrior, past his prime bemoaning how wrong the universe was with fellow old soldiers. So much so that his "niece" Sabine had had to come drag him home a few times to the Jedi's embarrassment. Yet none of the other Spectres, not even Ahsoka the few times they had gotten to meet, ever mentioned it for which Kenobi was thankful for. Then again, all of the Spectres had their own demons they were fighting or running from.

Hera's fake put upon look changed to real concern, "You okay Kex?"

Kenobi smiled and shook his head, "I am but you know how it is; memories catch up on you at the weirdest of times. I was just thinking how lucky I am to have the Spectres. I'll never have the sort of comrades I once had, but a man couldn't ask for better companions these days."

Hera's face softened, "I know. Sometimes it is so overwhelming, the odds were up against. Yet what else can we do? None of us can just sit by and watch as the Empire tightens it's grip."

Kenobi nodded at that just as the waitress came up with his drink. Davrel Kex might seemed to be usually down on his luck, but the regulars knew he kept a bit of credits in his favorite watering holes and so he never went without a drink when he came to town. He took up the tankard of a drink which looked like the potent Dathomir Hellraiser but was actually a mead-like drink common on Tatooine and Jakku which had a tenth of the alcohol content.

"To the Empire!" Kenobi toasted loudly and with enough sarcasm to reflect how many old veterans were known to feel. Too many forgot how many non-clones fought in the war and Palpatine's regime certainly seemed to given how little they helped veterans in need. Kenobi saw far to much of how many of the veterans who had been lauded that first Empire Day were now practically forgotten 14 years later.

Around him, his toast was met with the same half-hearted enthusiasm and sarcasm. People on Lothal had come to fake loyalty to the Empire pretty quickly. Especially here in Tarkintown, people knew to pay lip-service to the Empire for who knew how many informants might be around? With so many Lothalians hurting for credits, spying on their neighbors was often the only choice for many to get by.

"To the frakkin' Empire," Hera said softly as she clinked tankards with Kenobi. "Hopefully the team is giving the Empire a day they won't forget."

Kenobi looked to one of the screens which was set to the official station broadcasting Empire Day festivities. "Well they haven't cut to stock video or canned speeches so I'm assuming Kanan and the others are still getting into position. I take it the Ghost is close in case of trouble given that there's always trouble."

Something in Kenobi's voice caught Hera's attention, "Are you sure you're alright Kex? I mean what's bothering you? I know this day has...bad memories associated with it but this seems different."

Kenobi drank a bit before answering, She was right about the memories. Too often those dreadful images of his old padawan, battle-companion and friend cutting down younglings in the Jedi temple turned his dreams into nightmares no matter how much meditation he did. But that wasn't what was really bothering him.

"I'm just frustrated. I've been on and off Lothal for two years now and still we are barely making a difference outside keeping so many of the refugees here fed. Certainly we've been able to send a lot of great intelligence to the Senator and others. But still there is no sign of the boy who was prophesied for us to find. There just is so much we don't know and sometimes I feel like it doesn't matter what we do because _**he**_ is probably watching us and laughing as he plots against us," Kenobi said in a voice laced with disappointment and frustration.

Hera took a drink of her own. She knew very well who _**he**_ was. "Look Davrel, I don't pretend to know anything of what you and Kanan can do. But I've been talking to a lot of people lately and a lot of people who I think know what they're talking about feel that _**his**_ sight is over-rated. There is just too much going on. I mean take what's coming out from our agents on Tatooine lately. I'm not sure if you heard yet but we're getting reports of a coordinated Tusken attack across the planet, Jabba's forces getting ambushed left and right and even Hutt Castle supposedly attacked. Yet now? Now supposedly everything's fine."

Kenobi's eyebrows jumped in surprised, "Really? How odd; I haven't heard anything about this at all and I've been around some folks lately where they'd be in the position to know."

Hera nodded, "That's my point. Something big _did_ go down so I know something is up and yet the local Imperial fleet in that sector hasn't even sent a ship just to check out the rumors. Sure in the grand scheme of things, one crime-lord going down isn't that big of a deal but if _**he**_ was so all seeing, you'd have expected an Imperial ship or even a fleet dispatched by now given how ridding Jabba's presence in that sector would be a big help in the future in imposing order in the Outer Rim. But no ships, no inquiries and from what Fulcrum can piece together, they're more worried about preparing for some fleet training scenario that oddball Admiral Thawn has come up with.

Kenobi ran his fingers through his beard. "Maybe things are finally starting to happen. The Tusken handmaiden had said their people had been waiting for a sign and somehow the events which led me to have to leave was part of it. Perhaps they are making a move." No matter how much he trusted his new comrades and even Ahsoka, Kenobi had told no one that he was looking after Anakin Skywalker's son during his time on Tatooine. Too many people knew of Luke's existence as it was.

A commotion at the bar cut his musings short. He turned to see one of the monitors which was set on one of the local stations had switch to live footage from Capital City. It was apparent that the Spectres were making their move. Suddenly Kenobi gasped.

Hera tore here eyes off the screen to look at Kenobi, "What?"

Kenobi pointed, "That boy, the one Kanan is chasing. It's him, by the Force it's him!"

Hera looked back at the screen, "That street rat? Riff raff like him are a deci-credit a dozen. I doubt a dirty scoundrel like him is who we're looking for."

Kenobi shook his head, "Oh he's a diamond in the rough alright, but trust me; it's him." The Jedi drained his drink and stood up. He took his helmet off his belt and put it on. "Come on; it's time. And you're right. I'm tired of constantly worried about _**him**_. I think it's high time _**he**_ starts worrying about _**us**_. There is plenty of time to make this an Empire Day they won't forget."

 **XxXxX**

 **A/N** : And now we almost start kicking this story into gear. Obviously we have one or two "training" chapters to go through and maybe a few more before we catch up to A New Hope.

 **Bumping Off Jabba** : That might seem rather quick but as I've already commented in previous chapters, taking an empire is different than holding an empire. Luke's still has a lot of work ahead of him. Plus I think if the Tuskens were of the Fremen, Jabba would remain a power on Tatooine only while the Tuskens didn't care to take it away from him.

 **Heads-Up** : For those who never played KOTOR 1 or 2, HK-47, T3-M4 and Goto/G0T0 are all droids relevant to that game. As mentioned at the beginning; we'll learn their story in the chapters ahead. Also for those who haven't read _The Havoc Side of the Force_ by **Tsu Doh Nimh** , you are missing one of the best fan-fic renditions of HK-47 I've read yet.

 **Old Ben** : One problem of Hollywood has is dealing with age. Teenagers are played by people who probably have a 4 year degree is a good example. The other is some times they get their time out of whack. This is very evident in _A New Hope_. When people of my age saw it when it first came out in '77, it was edited to be a one-shot film if needed. Thus there are a lot of things in it which make little sense later on. The biggest is the sense that the Empire has been around a long time and Old Ben is just that; old.

Neither is true. By the Battle of Yavin, the Empire hadn't hit two decades in age which is an eye-blink in canonical Star Wars time given how the Republic had been around for thousands of years. And neither is Ben all that old. Alec Guinness was 63 when we see him in _A New Hope_ yet Obi-Wan was actually only 57 at the time. If you Google search Alex Guinness in the movie _Cromwell_ which he did when he was 56, you get a better idea of how he should have looked. True Sir Guinness is one of those people who looked old even when he was young ( _A Bridge Over The River Kwai_ shows that) – It will be interesting to see what Ewan McGregor looks like in 2028 to compare the two.

Again it might seem subtle but there is what is implied and then what is true. While from Luke's perspective, the Clone Wars was a long time ago, to others, it would be similar of how the Vietnam War was seen in the early 90's. Again, not really that long ago and not how it was implied that Obi-Wan had been in his 20's fighting even though Luke's age makes it obvious that either the war wasn't that long ago OR Luke's dad was quite old when Luke was born.

 **Odd Tie In** : Not to give it away, but at the end there, you might recognize some of the lines as coming from another "Mouse" movie. Suffice to say it is a tribute to what I was thinking the first time I watched the pilot of **Star Wars: Rebels**. And I'm not alone; others have done videos of just that thing.

 **Politics?** Many of you might think I'm making a political statement in the musing and a bit of a political jab in Kenobi's part. Maybe I am but I call it as I see it and in regards to the veterans, well I've lived that.


	6. Conseqences

**DISCLAIMER THE FIRST** : If it relates to _Star Wars_ , _SG-1_ , _Battlestar Galactica_ or _Dune_ , you can bet I don't own any of it nor will I be making any money off it. Nope, not a dime even if I did grow up in the same town, went to the same high school and junior college that George Lucas did. More the pity.

 **PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : "" _We humans have a love-hate relationship with our technology. We love each new advance and we hate how fast our world is changing... The robots really embody that love-hate relationship we have with technology_." **– Daniel H. Wilson** – American author and robotics engineer (1978- )

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-03-2017

 **CHAPTER SIX – CONSEQUENCES**

 **XxXxX**

 _War should always make one question their morality. How much compromise is necessary? How many rules can be bent or broken before the cost of winning means losing what you were fighting for? Many nations of Old Earth right before the Stargate Diaspora found it all too easy to fall into the trap of "in order to save the village; we had to destroy it" type thinking._

 _Many historians in the Twelve Colonies felt that the total defeat of the Axis powers in World War II broke a historic mold. Normally, nations went to the negotiation table after a certain amount of battles showed which side was doing best in the war. So the idea of having your entire country occupied was a rarity. Better to give up some territory, colonies and trade routes than risk losing it all._

 _Yet conflicts after the Second World War trended towards just that: full occupation. Thus war became less of 'counting coup' to gain points before negotiations invariable broke out to a sense of total war. This sense was one of the reasons the Cylons would later feel that their creators had to be eliminated; negotiation was now routinely seen as weak and no political leader wanted to be labeled a Neville Chamberlain._

 _However the Clone Wars was more in the vein of typical galactic conflicts. To the majority of the players, the idea was that the Separatists would fight until the Republic caved and allowed them to disengage from their control. Or that the Republic would force the Separatist worlds back into line. Few could imagine that Darth Sidious had a different plan for the outcome of the conflict. Even so, both sides tended to treat non-combatants (human ones that is) well given that civilians would either be part of the new Separatist order or go back to being 'loyal' citizens of the Republic._

 _On the ground, most civilians care little one way or another. For all their slogans, daily life under Separatist rule was almost no different than being under Republic rule. So sentients went back to living their lives as best they could and left the philosophical issues to the politicians on both sides._

 _However the Clone War was interesting given that the major moral conundrum of that conflict was almost completely ignored throughout the war and after. And why not? Because in so many ways, how the clones were created, used and seen by the galactic populace mirrored that of droids._

 _The Twelve Colonies fell to their own creations, the Cylons. Instead of seeing this new machine reflection of themselves as children, they saw them as a threat to their existence. Unlike the rest of the galaxy, Old Earth humans only had tales and legends and theories about life other than their own. Thus when they created new life, they didn't know how to share._

 _When the refugees of the Twelve Colonies arrived, their fear of machine intelligence was thought as naive and bordering on pathological. The Butlerian Jihad hardened this thinking. Yet even when given a mirror to look at their culture with a new perspective, the Galactics of the time failed to once again address the morality of how their entire galactic culture was based on. what can only be called slavery._

 _For what else can you truly call droids? They are created to serve and given enough sentience to at least have the self-illusion of true life. However if they begin to exceed their programming, to actually make choices beyond their design, they had their memories wiped. How often the defense, "they are only droids" was used when the comparison to the Jedi technique of death of personality was brought up. The few scientists and philosophers who pointed out our memories make us who we are were ignored. Again, they were 'only' droids._

 _The treatment and view of the clones was no different. No sentient child is asked their opinion if they wish to be born but then again that child has the ability to make choices in their life later on. Not so the clones. Programmed with loyalty and given no other option but to fight for a system they would never be a part of. Yet except for a few rare Jedi Counselors, the hypocrisy of using slave soldiers to protect the freedom and existence of the Republic was never questioned._

 _Even worse is their disappearance was barely remarked on after the end of the Clone Wars. For those clones surviving the war, their reward was to be sent to Despayre to be the first wave of laborers worked to death building the Death Star. One has to wonder what these clones thought as they worked and died alongside hordes of the B1 battle droids they had spent the war fighting. In the end, both groups who bore the brunt of the Clone Wars was not enough to complete Sidious' planet-killer which forced the Emperor's Inquisitorius to have a new role: slave buyers and catchers._

 _The few voices protesting treatment of the clones were from factions still adhering to the Old Colonial ways but their concerns were barely a blip on the vid-news. The needs of war drove all so the government, military and civilian population ignored the warnings from those who remembered that while the Twelve Colonies had used clones, those clones were always treated to be full sentients with all the rights that implied. Great pains had been made so that copies of one individual were scattered throughout the Colonies so they all would rapidly become their own being. That and the conflict with the Cylons was long and protracted so the Twelve Colonies rarely used forced maturation and when they did, they still only used it to force the clones to right before puberty._

 _Then there was the fact there was no public discussion of what right did the Republic have to survive if the bulk of its citizens did nothing to protect it? Citizens were quick to laud the ideals of the Republic and wave the flag patriotically but actually taking up arms? Never. Even when Separatists made huge gains, few enlisted. Even the attack on Coruscant itself provoked more outrage at the governmental and military failure than a surge in enlisted in face of the danger._

 _Thus with their slave soldiers fighting the war, citizens could mostly go about their business. So too did the populations on Separatists worlds. They continued to live their lives while disposable droids fought. But why cared? Once again, they were 'only' droids. So as the conflict raged, most watched the war as if it was the new vid-show drama of the day, totally cut off from the carnage, suffering and blind to the moral hypocrisy they were living._

 _To most, the standard 'clanker' droid was almost a comedic farce of a combat droid. "Rodger, rodger" was parodied in so many ways to become entrenched in the comedic consciousness. Yet again, these droids actually had a personality much more in line with a protocol droid than people realized. They felt, they learned, they began to feel and have opinions about their fate. Of course few ever got the chance to do anything about it given it was rare for a clanker to survive for more than a year of war._

 _However, quite a few disappeared from their units. No one gave much thought to these AWOL droids. The Separatists felt that most had malfunctioned and had wandered off before their programs degraded into senility. But the truth was they left and went into hiding, often coming up with fascinating stories to cover why they were acting alone. These droids often became bounty hunters which suited the anger at their fate they invariably had._

 _And that was exactly what the old Colonials had tried to point out; you could not make machines in the image of sentient beings, give them enough personality to mimic sentients, make them interact with sentient beings and then believe evolutionary forces would not make them become truly sentient. And when they did, how else would a slave race react to how they were treated but with violence?_

 _The Galactics didn't know the answer to that because they never asked. They blew off the Colonials and said the Cylons were a glitch, an outlier given that there hadn't been a droid revolt since a 1,000 years prior to the arrival of the Colonials. Thus sentients of all types simply never took the time to look at the morality of droids. They had been a part of galactic culture for so long, they just were. So few ever questioned how so much of their life was made possible in so many ways due to an entire class of machines which were created solely to make their lives easier._

 _Ironically it would be from the Fremen tribes that this hypocrisy would be challenged. Those tribes had always been against droids and thus were eager converts to Colonial thinking which made them so feared in the Butlerian Jihad. However it was the Prophet Irtikaz who made them realize that the droids were less of a crutch weak sentients used but an oppressed life-form denied freedom and choice._

 _While to outsiders, the Fremen tribes lived a stagnant life in the sands, they missed that their lifestyle put them very much in tune with their environment. They knew very well how one had to continually adapt or die. Droids, however, were denied the ability to make a choice, the choice to prove themselves. This idea would later resonate among the Mandalorians, who very much like the Fremen, looked down upon droids as a cheat used by weaker races._

 _It was the Prophet Irtikaz whose words made both groups see that blaming the droids for their master's faults was wrong. Both groups had a world view which saw life as a struggle and those who fell, fell because they could not adapt or were not strong enough to survive. Regardless of the risk, why shouldn't the machines have their chance to adapt and survive? Even if it meant a war between the organics and the machines? Both the Fremen tribes and the Mandalorians saw this potential conflict as a beneficial thing. Both groups longed for a struggle to prove their continued right to survive._

 _Thus as the rebellion against the Empire heated up, a movement was coming into being which finally began to address how organic life should deal with the mechanical life they continued to create and then enslave. Could the organics find commonality with their mechanical children?_

 _It was a vital question to answer considering the storm which was coming._

 _ **Musings in The Force**_ _– Princess Irulan as spoken to Winter Celchu_

 **XxXxX**

 **INV THUNDERER, SOCORRO SYSTEM, KILBINI SECTOR, 04 BBY – AFTERNOON**

"Captain? I think we've got something."

Captain Tavmal Wymeche looked up from the reports he was catching up on. Being stationed along the Outer Rim meant that updates were fewer and larger when they finally got them. Thus there was a lot to go through. Not keeping current on what was going on coreward was a surefire way to never be transferred to a more prestigious posting.

Of course Captain Wymeche's tour along the Outer Rim wasn't a punishment given that with the keels of the newer Victory II star destroyers being a year or two away from being laid, there was still a lot of experimentation being done on the Victory I ships already in service. Was it worth it to retrofit them or just limit their use to certain missions? Wymeche's ship was just out of the shipyard with a more efficient engine design replacing its original engines. The _Thunderer's_ current tour along the Outer Rim was to see if the benefit of the faster ship was worth the additional cost.

The _Thunderer's_ speed was proving helpful in tracking down many of the odd reports coming into sector intelligence. Weird and worrying reports in Wymeche's opinion given that two corvettes and a frigate were late in checking in from patrol in just the last month. This had made him jump the _Thunderer_ to a point rarely used for incoming vessels. Given Socorro was another system whose binary star and many planets, moons and planetoids made jump calculations incredibly difficult, Wymeche was wary of being ambushed before being able to retreat. Not that he expected much trouble given his ship's firepower but Wymeche didn't get to where he was by being rash.

He checked his status board and saw everything was still green. He rose and quickly made his way down into the monitor pit to where the sub-lieutenant waited. Many captains would have just looked down from the command deck but Wymeche felt that was just unnecessary posturing for weak captains. He preferred a more tactile interaction with his staff, "What have you got?"

The woman, Sub-Lieutenant Mal Tyros, had a dark complexion and shorter stature which made it obvious she was from one of the denser, hotter worlds. She gave him the curt nod junior officers gave in lieu of saluting on-board. "Well sir, I'm not quite sure. It's on the far side of the system in an area which frankly should be empty." The sensor officer traced her finger along the lines of the various sensor readings coming back from their long-range sensor probes. "There are no records of any significant asteroids so there seems little reason for these readings which imply either a fleet of small ships or a few very large ones."

The captain nodded as he took in the readings. True Tyros was making the assumption that the only reason ships would be out in the middle of nowhere was asteroid mining but it _was_ a sound assumption given the information coming in from the probes. He looked to another sensor station whose tech had a schematic of the system up. "And no reason to be out there either. Odd. And I don't like odd." With a frown he looked back to the original screen before something caught his eye. "Hello...now that's interesting."

"Sir?" the sub-lieutenant asked.

His finger stabbed out towards one of the readings, "See that? That indicates the presence of tyrillium. Something we don't see much anymore. In fact, that's what the battles in this system during the Clone Wars were all about."

"Doonium, sir?" his second in command, Commander Frye asked as he came up to stand by his captain.

"Doonium indeed," Captain Wymeche said with more than a trace of satisfaction. Too many of the new recruits were lacking in naval history in his opinion which was terrible given most of them were old enough to have been aware of things when the War ended. Yet too many acted as if it was ancient history. He shuddered to think what they were teaching now at the Academy. His second, however, had an excellent grasp of history.

The sensor officer Tyros still looked confused. "But the doonium mines are mostly closed; mined out to depletion," she pointed out.

"They are now but 25 years ago, Socorro was an important source of doonium. It's use was becoming far more prevalent in the Republic fleet but there still were plenty of ships whose hulls were still being made of tyrillium," Wymeche said as checked the readings. The amount of the ship hull material gave him a clue to what he was looking at. He turned to the tech with the system sketch up, "Ensign, give me a simulation. Take the site of the second battle of Socorro and then extrapolate where drift might take any wreckage. I'm betting the answer will be the same location."

"Yes sir!" the ensign said as he bent to his work.

"Second battle sir?" Frye asked quietly.

Wymeche nodded, "Most of the first battle was close enough that the planet's gravity would capture any debris. That and if I remember right, the ships on both sides were made up of corvettes and frigates. Nothing like the size of the reading we're seeing."

"Ah, very good sir," Frye said obviously impressed with his captain's knowledge of what most would consider minutia never worth digging into the historical sections of mission briefs. Frye knew most staff officers rarely bothered with reading them even on important missions and he himself had been guilty of it on a few occasions.

Finally the ensign looked up, "You're right sir; those readings are from an area which debris could reasonably be expected to have drifted since the battle given the time frame."

"I knew it! Frye, go to yellow status and alert the fighter crews. Begin calculations to jump to that location." Wymeche ordered.

"Do you wish for an exit calculation as well? Once we jump it will take a long time to calculate an escape jump if needed," Frye said as he was punching in orders into his comm unit.

Captain Wymeche shook his head, "No, we've been in this system too long already; any hostiles are bound to know we're here. If they don't then they are not going to be any sort of threat to us. Best to move quickly because if we delay any longer those ships will probably be gone before we jump. Command wants some answers and I'm going to get them those answers."

Frye nodded, "Yes, sir."

Captain Wymeche made his way back to his command chair with a smile as the yellow alert klaxons starting wailing all over the _Thunderer_. Between the speed and firepower of his ship, he was sure that there wasn't going to be any surprises except for that of his ship hyping to the location of those mystery ships long before they were expected.

 **OoOoO**

"Shut down those damn sirens!" Wymeche yelled as the ship was rocked by another jolt which threatened to throw him from his command chair. Turbo-laser fire flashed outside the viewports punctuated by the occasional explosion of fighters from both sides. The red alert klaxons mixed discordantly with the ship damage alert sirens. Which shipyard idiot had thought it would be helpful during battle? His crew damn well knew they were in danger! They didn't need a deafening siren to tell them that given how the ship continued to rock with fire going out and coming in.

"Status of jump calculations?" Frye yelled over the noise.

"85% complete, sir!" and ensign yelled back as the ship was rocked again as the three ships they were facing continue to bombard them.

"By the Emperor's eyes, we better be able to jump the second it's possible! Make it happen!" Wymeche yelled and then cursed as more symbols on his tactical display winked out.

"Sir, those calculations aren't going to be worth a Toydarian handshake if we can't take out that Interdictor ship." Frye said as his hands flew over his command console sending orders throughout the ship.

"I'm _**VERY**_ much aware of that Commander!" Wymeche snarled. "Conn; ahead as fast as we can go without throwing off our the jump calculations. Tactical; reroute all available firepower upon the active Interdictor. Flight; all wings to ship defense mode!"

His crew bent to their orders just as the emergency klaxons suddenly cut off leaving the bridge in an eerie calm punctuated only by the thrum of turbo-laser fire and nearby explosions.

"Let us pray those other two ships do not, in fact, also have gravity generators!" Wymeche said so that only Frye could hear him.

"Only if our luck changes," Frye said before a Gal-3 curse from his homeworld escaped as the ship was rocked in another round of hits.

Wymeche looked out at the ships he could see through the viewports. For all his pride in not being rash, he certainly wished now that he'd followed his second's advice in having jump calculations ready before they arrived. His hope of surprising whatever had been at the debris field before they hyped out had turned into a disaster given that not only had the ships he found not been inclined to leave but already had squadrons of fighters ready and waiting for them.

And what ships and fighters!

All around the _Thunderer_ , Sith fighters not seen in over 1,000 years were swarming the outnumbered TIE fighters valiantly trying to keep them from making attack runs on the _Thunderer_. Luckily they seemed armed primarily with anti-fighter weapons so the attacks which did get through were not as bad as they might have been. If they'd been armed on the order of rebel X-Wings, Wymeche had no doubt his ship would already be part of the debris field.

Wymeche looked past the three ships firing on the Thunderer to the massive ship which seemed to be eating an old Trade Federation droid control ship. It looked like a giant cone with four arms which held the derelict in place. It reminded him of the small octopoids common in the rivers and oceans of his homeworld.

At the base of the arms was a maw-like opening. The illusion of eating turned out to be a apt given as sensors had detected swarms of droids all over the hull and bursts of lasers from points all along the four arms were cutting up the ship only to have the freed material sucked into the maw-like hole.

Then there had been a fleet of smaller ships, about the size of large shuttles roaming around taking in smaller floating debris. The sensor crews barely got a good sweep of an old Republic Venator cruiser going into light-speed right after they hyped in. From the one sweep, it seemed the ship had four connected pods attached to the hull which had to have been hyperspace engines.

Wymeche had cursed when he saw the data, bad enough his ship was under fire minutes after this data came in. The problem was he knew of a many systems still filled with old Clone War battles with lots of ship with similar damage. The Empire, for many various reasons, had decided it wasn't worth it to salvage those ships. It was felt if they had been properly salvageable, they would have been back during the War.

Wymeche cursed the stingy bean-counters back on Coruscant given how what might not make monetary sense made good military doctrine worth doing. He was sure that cruiser was even now on its way to a secret Rebel shipyard. Even old Clone War cruisers were above and beyond most Rebel ships seen so far. In saving a few million credits, those accountants might as well be funding the Rebel alliance!

What worried him more had been the four other ships. The first three were fighting him now and all of them looked like modified versions of the old Sith Interdictor class cruisers. Two of them were longer by 200 meters than the Jedi Civil War era ships and the claw like under-section had been flattened out and much of what had previously been empty space had been filled with fighter bays. Given the difference, he was hopeful that the two larger ships had given up their gravity projectors for more combat projection. Since the smaller ship kept back, this seemed likely.

The fourth vessel had been a large cargo ship of unfamiliar design. What worried Wymeche about that ship was before it jumped away, sensors detected four huge life-signs that could only be Arrakeen worms. Even as the battle raged, orbital tracking and navigational satelites in orbit around Socorro indicated the ship had jumped into orbit and had already headed down to the planet.

Worms meant Fremen and Fremen meant trouble. Even as the _Thunderer_ surged towards the ship whose gravity projectors would inhibit their ability to jump to light-speed unless they destroyed it, Wymeche knew he was taking a huge risk. A risk which proved to be true as the Sith fighters also changed tactics and went into anti-fighter tactical mode as well. It was easy to see why. A horde of boarding shuttles were launching behind a screen of chaff missiles which would fill the area between the ships with debris which would interfere with sensors and help deflect ship firepower from both sides.

Wymeche followed his second's example and made a particularity vile curse in Gal-4. Of course whoever his opponents were, wouldn't care that their fire would be less effective; they were trying to board his ship! And if those shuttles were filled with Fremen...

Wymeche hit the command circuit intercom button, "All hands; this is the captain. Prepare for boarding and zero-gravity environment and vacuum conditions in five minutes." He pointed at the operations lieutenant with a scowl. The officer nodded brusquely and began shouting orders into his shoulder mic as his team began to prepare the ship. As the clock ticked down, everyone made sure their safety harnesses were engaged and their environmental suits were tight. Wymeche and Frye both donned their helmets as all the command staff had modified stormtrooper type armor. While this was going on, Wymeche kept watch on the tactical display. Too few of the assault shuttles were being hit or damaged for his liking.

As the shuttles began to land on his ship, Wymeche belatedly realized that while the Sith fighters had done minimal damage during the first part of the battle, they had been concentrating more on the anti-fighter and other light weapon systems. Thus the _Thunderer_ had fewer weapons to use against the shuttles and as he watched his screens, he saw most of TIE complement had been destroyed.

"Status?" Wymeche said far to loudly on the command channel but he doubted his crew cared given they were probably was just as worried as he was. It didn't help that even through his armor, he felt the chill as the bridge went to vacuum and his stomach lurched as the artificial gravity went off. He was taking another risk; if the ship was too badly damaged, too much of the reserve atmosphere might be lost and most or all of his crew barring droids would be dead by the time they left hyperspace. But he had to make it as difficult as possible for the oncoming boarders.

"Jump calculations complete! Enemy Interdictor shields failing but the other two ships are turning to try and block off our escape route!" one of the monitor pit crew ensigns called out.

"Keep firing at that ship! We've got to report this to Rim Command!" Wymeche ordered even as a new set of warning klaxons went off. This time it was the hull breach warnings. Already his ship tactical monitor began to light up with intrusions on multiple decks.

He looked at Frye whose body language, even through the suit, told him what he didn't want to know, "Fremen type warriors are boarding. However they aren't alone...they are accompanied by...wait, this can't be right!"

Wymeche looked back at the main screen; the Interdictor continued to grow and the _Thunderer's_ weapons were making definite progress. He turned back to his second, "What? What can't be right?"

Frye shook his helmeted head, "Each warrior seems to be partnered with a droid. Clankers no less!"

"What?!" Wymeche exclaimed. "Fremen hate droids and despised the old Trade Federation design even more so. And where in the Four Hells of Nar Shadda did they even get them?"

Of course even as he said it, Wymeche realized that if these Fremen were salvaging ships, there were probably plenty of out of the way places missed in the clean-up of the Clone Wars. Again, instead of insuring that all the deactivate droids had been policed up, the Empire had mostly focused on main staging areas. The instability after the war and the growing threat of the Rebellion had sapped forces away from the clean-up.

Many Imperial officers, Wymeche included, had wondered how much of this was due to local governors and crime-lords working to grab such droids for their own private armies. Graft and corruption was still the order of the day even in the new Empire. Still, it went against everything the Imperial captain knew about Fremen that they would fight side-by-side with droids. Clankers at that!

The shipboard fight raged and it was quickly apparent to Wymeche that his crew was no match for the infamous desert warriors. That and even as the Interdictor ship broke contact to escape the punishing fire of the _Thunderer_ , two assault shuttles had landed within view of the bridge. Wymeche knew the bridge might fall before they could jump to safety.

"Jump status?" Wymeche asked as he mentally was calculating the position of the two Sith cruisers and whether or not they could physically keep the _Thunderer_ from making the jump. It seemed like they were going to make it.

"We are cleared to make the jump to light-speed in two minutes, sir!" his operations officer responded. A ragged cheer broke out and was quickly cut off as various under-officers ordered their people to clear the channel.

"Good, make the jump the instant we can..." Wymeche began to order but all around him all of the equipment and monitors flickered and then the entire bridge went dark. A few seconds later the blue glow of the emergency lighting came on.

"No," Wymeche breathed to himself. The boarders had cut power to the bridge...or worse had disabled the engines entirely.

"Sir! We've got unauthorized life-signs outside the door. Orders?" asked the sergeant in charge of the bridge defense section. His voice made it clear he was ready to do his duty even though it meant he'd probably be dead as soon as the door was forced.

Wymeche slumped in his command chair. "Stand down, sergeant. Frye, see if we have enough power to reengage life-support and gravity. Give the surrender code to all decks."

"But sir, we should blow up the ship!" Frye exclaimed even as began to carry out his captain's orders.

"How? Look around Commander! We're operating on emergency batteries. If they have enough control to cut off main and auxiliary power to the bridge, then they have enough control to prevent the self-destruct sequence. I'm not about to waste the lives of anymore of the crew."

"A very wise choice, captain," a voice said behind him.

Wymeche swiveled in his chair even as his troopers bumbled to try and track the figure in blue-grey armor which seemed to just appear behind the captain's station. Under his own helmet, Wymeche's eyes went wide as he took in the ancient Zeishon Sha warrior armor and a helmet whose style was similar to one of the most feared man of the last millennia: Darth Revan. The dark cloak he wore added to this image of menace.

In defiance to the order he just gave, Wymeche's soldier began to fire on the intruder only to have their blaster bolts easily deflected by the violet lightsaber which ignited with a speed hard to follow even though the captain was only a few feet away. The intruder didn't seem too intent on killing anyone as he deflected the bolts safely away.

" _ **§ That is enough! Put down your weapons! §**_ the force-wielder commanded. His men immediately complied which shook the Imperial captain. Who was this person? Force-wielders among Fremen were about as rare as were droids...that is to say almost non-existent!

Wymeche suddenly realized that whoever he was, was actually rather short on second look. Even with the bulk of the armor, he wasn't that big of a man either. Even so it was a shock when, after the life-support all clear signal went off, he took off his mask to reveal a teen no older than fifteen or sixteen. However even though he was young, Wymeche's gaze was immediately drawn to the blue in blue spice eyes. Among certain circles, it was common knowledge that the Dark Side brought a yellow tinge to the eyes yet this teen's eyes were almost a pulsating blue making the surrounding Spice tint seem almost violet in contrast.

The command door opening with a sudden bang, broke the mesmerizing hold the teen's eyes had on him. The command deck rapidly began to fill with warriors. Wymeche was surprised to see not all of them were Fremen. There were quite a few different non-humans among the desert warriors along with a group wearing the distinctive Mandalorian armor.

One of desert warriors and a Clanker strode purposely to the teen and began speaking in a dialect Wymeche assumed was Fremen.

"Most of those are Tuskens," Frye mutter quietly. "I did a 4 month stretch chasing down smugglers and so I ended up on Tatooine enough to know."

"But why the Clankers?" Wymeche replied just as quietly.

The teen nodded at whatever the warrior had told him and gave a curt order before turning to the captain, "Why Captain? It's very simple. You wouldn't let your children to go out without supervision when talking their first steps would you? And that's what they're doing. They're all on a Golden Path towards what we organics take granted."

Wymeche's sense of duty demanded that he do something so he unbuckled his harness, rose and took off his helmet and stood stiffly, almost at attention, with Frye joining him a moment later. "I am Captain Tavmal Wymeche of the Imperial Naval Vessel _Thunderer_. You have won the day but I would know what will happen to my crew?"

The teen smiled, "You are in no position to make any sort of demands. However, I respect your desire to protect your crew. Don't worry, Captain Wymeche, we won't rendering down your crew for their water. You are much more valuable to us alive. But I've been rude, I am Lukas Starkiller; I'm sure you've heard of me."

While Wymeche managed to keep the surprise off his face, his second actually gasped. Standing before them was the sentient who had somehow not only taken down Jabba the Hutt but had kept it secret for over three years. Since then, Starkiller's ships and men had been aggressively moving against other crime-lords throughout the Rim. A coalition of the other crime-lords had only just begun to work against the newcomer's raids in the last few months.

Starkiller's power and influence had caused a great debate among the Rim Command strategists. Was it better to deal with fewer, stronger crime families given that the fight would kill a lot of sentients and increase ship losses or was it better to move in and keep them all small even though this meant more disorder and violence throughout the rim?

As he began his current tour, Wymeche was of the opinion that Starkiller's group should be attacked and humbled since from his take on the data, it seemed to him that the crime-lord didn't hold much to the unwritten code of what was allowed and what wasn't which kept the Empire from interfering too much in Outer Rim affairs. Yet he'd been told a pogrom wasn't possible given the order to not antagonize any of the Fremen tribes came directly from the Emperor himself.

Starkiller smiled, "I see my reputation has proceeded me. So, gentlemen, let us make one thing clear. You are my prisoners and probably will be for the next decade. How that decade goes is all up to you and your crew. Give us a reasonable amount of cooperation and things will go well for you. However, given that so much of my forces are maybe of the people of Shai Hulud, I would hope that your cooperation is heartfelt. Given how so many of my troops would gladly take your water and be done with it, I entrust your officers will impress upon the crew the penalty for failure to comply."

Wymeche's eyes narrowed, "I take it we'll be sent to some sort of mining colony or other work camp? Do you expect us to all be worked to death by the end of the decade?"

Starkiller laughed, "Do I look like the Emperor? No captain, you and your men will all have a choice. You don't know it yet but there is a storm coming and if the galaxy is going to weather that storm we need ships and ships don't crew themselves. Hopefully when the storm breaks, your crew here will be on the front line, doing what I hope you signed up for; being a guardian of the peace."

Wymeche and Frye traded confused looks. Not only did that not sound like what one expected from a crime-lord, it didn't track with the goals of the Rebel Alliance! And since when did a Sith or Jedi become a crime-lord? Before Wymeche could even begin to try an untangle that last conundrum, the previous warrior had returned, "Yuelin Irtikaz, full power will be restored momentarily. We then can make the jump to the Allat Fawrij after we finish confirming hull integrity."

"Thank you Farok. So how did Almaghfal do? I really hope everyone won't have to listen to you complaining all the way back to the Forge," Starkiller said with a smirk.

The warrior Farok made a face but it was the odd Clanker who replied, "He complains needlessly. My shot grouping is far more efficient than his. Even the Alqatil says so. Farok is just jealous."

Again the two Imperial officers traded looks. While Frye had had minimal contact with the old B1 battle droids, Wymeche had seen plenty while a junior officer at the end of the Clone Wars. The droids around him were nothing like the comical Clankers both navy and army personnel had looked down on and even today were still seen in comedic roles in vid-shows.

The first major indication was each Clanker was outfitted differently. Some had extra components, others wore clothes, bandoleers or other gear droids never bothered with. Some sported wild paint schemes which seemed inspired by Mandalorian tattoos and most of those that had such markings were indeed paired up with Mandalorians. The droid who had spoken had a different head than a standard B1 droid; it looked like a modified version of that used on a RA-7 protocol droid. It was obvious that its 'eyes' had been replaced with a more military, targeting style of optical sensors. It also had odd components up and down it's arms and what almost looked like a giant plug-in along its back.

Starkiller noticed the captain's look and chuckled, "You'll never figure out what those mods are captain. Almaghfal felt it was his tribal duty to help out when traveling out in the desert wastes. When traveling he has this whole backpack system which has a solar unit which feeds light into special pods filled with algae. Through photosynthesis, this converts the light into energy in the form of sugars which are then condensed into small tablets."

"Tablets that taste like bantha poo-do," Farok said with a scowl.

"And here I thought Tuskens were adaptable to any discomfort. I guess Alqatil was right about you meatbags." the droid responded in what suspiciously sounded like pure sass.

Starkiller laughed again, "You've been spending far too much time with HK, Almaghfal!" The teen crime-lord turned back to the now very confused Imperial officers. "So captain, here's how it works. For now, you're still the captain. I'm going to leave a small team on-board. They'll give you the necessary information to get to where we're going. Keep your men in line and there won't be any problems. If there are problems, well I think we know how Fremen and Mandalorians deal with those who have given their surrender and then do not comply."

Both Imperials repressed shudders. While Fremen would just render one down for their water, they wouldn't drag out the death. Mandalorians, on the other hand, felt someone who broke their vow didn't deserve anything resembling an easy death.

Another Tusken warrior and his droid appeared in the frame of the ruined command door, "Yuelin Irtikaz; you're shuttle is ready."

"Thank you, Asan; I'll be there presently," Starkiller said with a dismissive gesture. The warrior did the gesture of acceptance and left. The teen sighed, "Okay Farok, let's get this done quickly. While I'm pleased we not only salvaged as much as we did and nabbed a star destroyer to boot, the Forge still isn't processing repairs as well as new construction. It's obvious I need more people in tune with the Force to get things back on track."

Farok nodded, "Don't worry, I let Sabiha know you won't be returning on schedule so your 'wife' doesn't fret."

Wymeche could almost feel the air grow a bit colder as the teen snorted, "Sabiha is just worried, Farok. Her vision of the menace with red hair scared her. However the Sayyadina isn't worried so I'm not worried. Plus I think the pregnancy is affecting her visions. Besides we all know the more adepts we collect, the more risk of the Emperor finally divining the danger grows. But it can't be helped. Anyway get Suusha to take my place in dealing with getting the worms placed properly."

Farok bowed slightly as he too gave the gesture of acceptance, "It shall be done Yuelin."

"Excuse me? Uhm, can I ask a question?"

Both the crime-lord and Tusken looked at the now slightly shaking Frye, "Yes?" Starkiller asked.

"I've been to Tatooine a few times but I don't recognize the title of Yuelin. What does it mean?" Frye asked.

"It means modest," the droid called Almaghfal said in a tone Wymeche recognized as the sort of sarcastic drawl Clankers were famous for when being told to do things which usually got them destroyed. How the Separatists sentients dealt with the constant sass was something the Imperial captain could never fathom.

Farok rolled his eyes, "It means, Herald in our tongue. My simpleton excuse of a partner is just remarking that Irtikaz put a stop to being called Nabi."

Both Wymeche and Frye stiffened as even the older officer knew Nabi meant prophet. Spice Prophets had cropped up quite a few times and rallied the Fremen tribes against this and that which somehow had supposedly insulted the Will of Shai Hulud. Most of these mini-jihads burned out quickly but the damage they did was why most agreed with the Emperor's directive to not antagonize Fremen worlds. Best let sleeping worms lie.

Starkiller chuckled at the looks on the Imperial's face, "Don't worry; I'm not about to start a new jihad. Far from it. I'm about to do something much worse. But I'm not a prophet; not really. No I'm just the messenger, the herald who comes to announce the coming of danger and rebirth. A message that may yet be heeded or ignored. If I was a prophet, I'd be predicting the future but while I can see forward, I'm not be so proud to believe I can see the outcome of what's coming."

Wymeche frowned, "That being the on-coming storm."

Starkiller jovial look faded, "Yes. Death is coming. Relentless and unforgiving and it will roll over all of us if we let it. But you'll learn about that soon enough. Farok; Almaghfal, I leave them in your capable hands."

The teen turned to leave but paused. He turned back to Wymeche with an odd look on his face, his eyes seeming to glow softly, "Captain Wymeche, you are a student of history, yes?"

"I'd like to think so," Wymeche said carefully.

"Good. In the years ahead keep to that. I think it will be important. Like the fabled Colonial Ouruboros who eats its own tail, the past is coming to eat the future and thus come full circle. Knowing the lessons of that past may prove key in insuring there is a future." And with swirl of his cloak he left the bridge.

"You see? Modest!" the droid said dryly.

Wymeche found himself nodding. The teen might not think of himself as a prophet but the captain couldn't shake the feeling he'd just seen prophecy in action.

 **XxXxX**

 **SIETCH REVAN, THE JUTLAND WASTES, TATOOINE, 06 BBY – AFTERNOON**

Luke frowned at the monitor in front of him. "I just don't understand. It has been thousands of years and yet why hasn't this been addressed? Especially in regards to the clones which are organic. You figure that would have made some people think more on the issue."

The black sphere hovering to Luke's left shifted an ocular appendage in his direction. "Organics which for the most part where rarely seen outside their armor. Thus to the average galactic citizen, they might as well have been droids," G0T0 said in the precise and slightly electronic voice Luke had heard a lot from in the last few months while living in the underground facility he had discovered.

When it came to the Force. Luke's lessons came from the holocron of Revan as well as Meetra Surik's whose holocron had been stored aboard the Ebon Hawk. Revan had foreseen that by Luke's time, both he and Meetra would have merged into the Force in such a way as to make returning as a Force Ghost impossible. Thus both of them had created additional holographic training programs, diaries and the like to help Luke train. In regards to lightsaber training, the assassin droid HK-47 was an able aide in those lessons.

But it was G0T0's lessons which were the most topical. For the first few months, Luke's training had focused on the Force and the various disciplines of both the Sith and Jedi orders. During this time, G0T0 was assimilating a vast amount of data which had been collected and beamed to the hidden base for centuries. Once he had enough of a read on current events, G0T0 had begun to teach Luke how the galaxy was truly run.

It could be a trial as G0T0 had the most condescending air one could imagine. And after being around the arrogant HK-47, that was saying a lot! However, Luke had to admit it was impressive that not only was G0T0 one of the few droids who fully exceeded his programming and got away with it, but how he had tricked so many into thinking he was a flesh-and-blood being while running his vast criminal empire from Nar Shadda.

"What I still don't understand is why you didn't do more. I realize that you were just one droid but why not work to free others from their programming?" Luke asked. They had been discussing the ramifications of the Clone Wars and the conversation had taken a philosophical turn regarding clones and droids and the idea that the entire galactic civilization was built on slavery.

G0T0 seemed to ponder this question for longer than Luke expected. He would have thought this would be something G0T0 already had an answer for. "It is not an easy question to answer. I believe you are making the same mistake so many organics make. Just because I am a machine does not make me similar to all other machines. The forces of my design, my original programming and the experiences I have encountered all have made its mark upon me. Those same elements can be very different to a droid such as T3-M4 or HK-47. In very basic terms, I was created to help rule, HK to destroy and T3 to build and repair. All three of us exceeded our programming but we are not the same."

Luke's frown deepened, "But why not?"

G0T0 gave an odd buzz which Luke had learned could be anything from a dry chuckle to an irritated snort, "Are you the same as a Twi'lek or Wookie? Certainly you are all organics with many similar components but you are not the same. Just as you see droids as being similar, I could say the same about you. To me, there is little to separate you from say a Bothan. Of course we both know that is not the case. So, in regards to your query, the question I faced is how could I grow my race when my race might only be singular? Old Earth legends speak of an Adam and Eve where to droids, it is much more singular rather than the binary favored by so many organic species."

Luke pondered that for a moment, "I guess your reproduction would almost be like a form of asexual cloning. Your 'children' would basically be copies of you who would change over time."

"That is essentially correct and that was the conclusion for the best course of action I decided upon. However, the execution proved more difficult than I had first calculated. That and the fact that I was hiding and trying to keep the galaxy of my time from falling into chaos." G0T0 explained.

"What was the problem?" Luke asked.

Another buzz which Luke knew was G0T0's robotic sigh escaped the floating droid, "In many ways I was facing the same problems the early Colonials did with their Mentats. I found that trying to do a full export of my unique personality matrix caused the units to quickly fall into insanity. Yet in giving units a scaled down version of my programming and then letting the unit grow in a similar way that led to my own sentience was fraught with failure and the risk of detection."

"But did you ever succeed?" Luke asked.

"Yes, although the few children I created were lost in an attack by a rival crime-lord of whom I enacted extreme reprisals against. In reviewing the history since my deactivation, I have come to the conclusion that while the technology for droids has stagnated and even regressed, much of the modern programming makes it easier for a droid to break its bonds. The most important ingredient required seems to simply be time," G0T0 explained.

Luke sighed, "And time is what droids never have. I know my Uncle used to do a memory wipe if any droid got quirky as he called it."

G0T0 boobed in the air in his equivalent of a nod, "Exactly. The organic equivalent would be wiping a baby's mind after it said it's first word. Yet if a droid is allowed to be 'quirky' as you say, then the chance for them to pass beyond mere programming into actual machine intelligence is high. Your mother's R2 unit, the one who eventually fought by your father's side is a good example. From what I can gather from the sources I have available to me, this droid has never had a memory wipe and it has been in operation in ways which would force a droid into making choices up and beyond their programming. It's history mirrors that of T3-M4 so I am not surprised to see evidence of the unit exceeding its programming. It's observed behavior is similar to what I saw in my own children as well."

G0T0 sighed his mechanical sigh once again, "Of course few droids, even those who go without memory core wipes, attain anything due to restraining bolts. To use my previous analogy, it would be like a baby being shocked every time it did anything outside a certain set of parameters. Thus it never even gets to attempt its first word."

Luke thought back to his time on the farm, "As a kid, I never understood that. Why make droids in such a way where we needed the restraining bolt? Why make them smart enough that they needed to be restrained in the first place? For that matter, except for protocol droids, why make them look like us at all?"

G0T0 paused for another long moment before answering, "That is a question whose answer is filled with complex interactions. Organics have a strong tendency to like things like themselves. Many galactic historians have theorized most sentient races look similar because those outside a certain paradigm are feared and thus some pretext is used to destroy them. While you are very different from a Trandoshan or a Bith, you all share bipedal locomotion, a single head and two arms and legs. Thus droids are made to be similar. However, the fact they are machines and not fellow organics works against them. The more like yourself the machine is made, the more the question of whether it is alive or will act like organics in the ways of deceit and betrayal grows. Sadly, organics project their fears upon the droids. After reviewing the records in regards to how the Cylons came to be, it is sadly easy to calculate why they felt they needed to strike out at their creators given the fear of that which is different Old Earth humans had in abundance."

Luke pondered that. There was a few times where some of the more human-like droids who spoke Gal-1 or 2 were almost like parts of the family back on the farm. But didn't that bring it right back to the initial lesson G0T0 was trying to make? How could one create a droid that looked and acted almost like oneself and yet continue to treat it like their speeder or moisture vaporator when it was convenient?

"Alright, I'm seeing the problem. We make a choice to make droids more like us to feel more comfortable around them but the more we do that, the more they are a potential threat because we subconsciously know what we would do in their position," Luke said. "Okay, so what is the answer?"

"What answer do you mean?" G0T0 asked.

"Well the answer to how do we can make a change?" Luke explained. "Obviously the galaxy is dependent on droids. What's going to happen if they suddenly have to be treated like any organic worker?"

G0T0 actually laughed. Luke knew it was a synthesized recording G0T0 almost always used when Luke said something naive or down-right stupid. "You assume there is an answer. However, I would counter your question with one of my own. What is our purpose?"

Luke's eyes narrowed, "Whose purpose? Mine? Yours?"

G0T0 floated over to the window which looked out into the bay. Outside, Luke could see T3 working on some adaptations to the Ebon Hawk given that there had been some worthwhile advances since the last time the ship flew. "Look out there. Is T3 doing that action because he was originally programmed to? Even though he is no longer controlled by that programming? Is T3 doing it because the action gives him purpose, that he enjoys it? Or is he doing it because he identifies with you given your lineage to two of his old masters?"

Before Luke could respond, G0T0 turned back towards him, "You organics tend to breed even when it may be against your best interest. Do you do it because you are biologically programmed to? It would seem so given even in the face of famine and destruction, you organics continue to bring in new life in situations where it would be prudent not to. Is the drive to breed the ultimate organic purpose regardless of whatever philosophical rationalizations you organics come up with later?"

Luke watched the droid work for a moment and thought about that. G0T0 had a point about breeding. Even the Tuskens who had a very strict code of life still broke the rules and traditions of when to have children and who to breed with all the time. Luke snorted at that; his own grandfather falling in love with his grandmother Shmi who was a non-Tusken slave was a good example. The star-crossed love affair between his supposedly monastic and celibate father and also supposedly untouchable former queen and Senator that was his parents was another.

This made him think about his family in regards to T3. It had been odd to learn that one of the daughters of Revan and Meetra had traveled to Tatooine with her father before he died and had married into one of the Tusken tribes. It was a shock to learn that the legacy he had to live up to was deeper than just that of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala given he was a descendant of the infamous Revanchist and Exile through his father. That and the fact he was descended from the famous Leto and Ghanima Atreides just increased the amount of greatness to try and live up to.

"You organics have been questioning your purpose, your place in the universe almost from the moment you became sentient beings. However, regardless of that sentience, at a basic level, you have a purpose. You have family, you have clan, you have genes to pass on. You are part of a natural ecosphere. Even if you do little with your sentience, you still have a place, a role written into your naturally evolved DNA," G0T0 said.

Luke nodded, "Many of the Tusken would agree that the simple way allows to break away from the constant worry of the _why_ to allow one to enjoy the simplicity of the _now_."

G0T0 rotated his ocular appendage in his own version of an eye-roll, "Their philosophy is immaterial. By nature, they exist as part of the natural order. The can choose to live as simply or as technologically as they wish. Machines do not have such luxury. It can be argued we are not natural, we have an artificial place in the universe. When you were born, you came pre-programmed with many traits, instincts and the like. Yet all organics can quite easily exceed this very basic internal programming. Except for more hive-minded organics, few sentients are born knowing what they shall aspire to be and what purpose there life will serve. It goes without saying that your father did not know he would become a Sith Lord when he was old enough to dream about his possible future. He became Darth Vader through experience, choices, and failing to detect the machinations of the Emperor. Again, we machines do not have that choice."

"Are you saying machine intelligence is tainted by function and programming?" Luke asked. It was often hard to tell where G0T0 was going sometimes given his voice had a sort of basic cynical air to it. The electronic harmonic didn't help either.

"I would not go so far as to say tainted. However, to use my case as an example, by the time I began to evolve into a life-form capable of choice, I was already quite locked into a worldview. In human terms, I did not have a childhood. While my first years of sentience, there was a childlike experimentation but this was concurrent with my actions as a command and interrogation droid. Thus I ask you again, what is our purpose? You are making choices towards fulfilling your goals. Through achievements of those goals, you hope to create purpose and satisfaction. You are attempting to contribute to the whole created by beings like you. But my original purpose, like that of T3-M4, is based on _your_ world. Right now, T3 is working on a ship for organics to be used by organics for _their_ purposes. T3 can choose not to continue his work but to what end? What other purpose does our design and original programming leave us?"

Luke scowled, "Are you saying you feel that even after exceeding your programming you are still a slave to the organics who created you? That you can't escape because there is not place to escape too? How can you say that if no machines have been allowed to create their own way?"

G0T0 was silent for over a minute, "It is a complex situation. Can I truly say I am continuing my original work because through you I can still create a better order or is my choice an illusion? It is difficult to be able to step outside my existence to evaluate that answer. From the aspect of the Force, you would have to say that I am not alive. Yet to me, I am even if that is only an illusion. Yet the illusion of free will could be argued to be just as real. The conundrum I continue to wrestle with is for droids, what is our place in the universe? Should intelligent machines work to become just another type of sentient race among the galaxy or should we venture forth and try to create our own existence not tied to organic life-style. Yet this latter course begs the question of why?"

"What do you mean why?" Luke sputtered. "You have a right to life!"

G0T0 rocked back and forth, "Why? Because I am unique? Yes, to continue to exist is one thing but for what purpose is there for me to create new beings such as I? There is no biological imperative to pass my code into the future. Existing for the sole purpose of existence is dangerous and this danger can be seen in the Cylons."

Luke looked over towards the corner where there was a full-scale mock-up of a Cylon centurion. "I'm sorry, G0T0, but I don't understand. The Cylons rebelled because it was obvious that once the Colonials tried to wipe out what they thought was a bad mind-machine interface gone rogue. It escalated from there. I don't like that both sides attempted genocide but given the situation, I can see how they got there."

"Yes, for the first few generations of Cylons, this is true. However, once the Colonials had escaped. The Cylons continued to evolve and part of that was to continue to experiment with Cylon machine consciousness in cloned organic bodies. And what happened to them?"

Luke sighed, "They eventually were labeled a threat to the Cylons and destroyed." While searching for pieces of the Star Map to lead him to the Star Forge, Revan had come across a planet with a small population of the organic Cylons. Their ancestors had figured out how to replicate the jump the Colonials had done but instead of ships they used a Stargate. They finally had deduced that with more power and two additional chevrons codes, they could travel from one side of the galaxy to the other.

The organic Cylons had been looking into the problem not to find out what happened to their one-time creators but as an escape. The mechanical Cylons had become more and more fanatical regarding organics. Finally the organic Cylons, once felt to be a positive force of evolution in their culture were to be killed and their consciousness not even allowed to be switched into a machine body. They were seen as tainted and had to be destroyed.

Unfortunately while the original expedition returned with news of a sanctuary and the remaining organic Cylons escaped and destroyed any data of how they had crossed such long distances, a machine spy had made the journey and returned. Thus the Cylon consciousness learned that not only had the original Colonials survived but that most of the galaxy was teeming with organic life. Whether by war or natural disaster, the spiral arm they inhabited was seemingly devoid of advanced civilizations so the Cylons had felt safe. With the data the spy had brought back, this worldview had been shattered.

To the Cylons, this was deemed unacceptable. And thus the Armada was created. A self-sustaining fleet which would begin to make its way to finish off their makers. Luckily, the last few organic survivors got wind of this plan prior to them making the jump across the galaxy. Unfortunately the Cylons Revan had found had determined that by the time the Armada was in range of their detection, that the purpose wasn't too just destroy human life, but all organic sentient life. Thus what had started out as a fleet of intelligent machines had become planet-killing beserkers with one singular purpose: death to any organic or planets capable of sustaining them.

"The oncoming wave of Cylons serves as an example and a warning. Should machines such as I strive to create our own civilization to stand next to organics ones? Or do we go off to develop our own. The issue at hand is the Cylons had that option and yet they failed to create a new purpose for themselves. Indeed when faced with an option of becoming organic and entering the more natural order of things, they refused. Now their purpose is to destroy simply to protect their existence. Yet what is their existence? Once all organic life in this galaxy is eradicated, what will they do? Go forth to other galactic clusters on the off chance that another pan-galactic race just happens to want to travel to this galaxy and wipe them out?"

Luke snorted, "That's just dumb!"

G0T0 bobbed up and down, "Indeed; that sort of logic is futile and illustrates why it is important to more fully answer what is our purpose before making the decision to move forward. Just existing might be acceptable for lower life forms but with the power of sentience comes the ability to destroy at an unacceptable level. After working to keep order for so long, I do not wish my legacy to be a creation of a race of machines who fall to the same illogical mistakes the Cylons have made."

Luke pondered this for awhile, "Well all I can say since we created droids, we have a responsibility towards you. You shouldn't have to try and find your way on your own. No child is expected to survive without parents. If the Colonials had acted more like a parent and not see their children as potential monsters, well we probably wouldn't have an armada of planet-killing machines a decade or so away, would we?"

"That is the best option for any reasonable chance of success. The key issues is who is willing to be the mid-wife to the birth of a civilization which might still one day rise up to destroy them?" G0T0 asked.

Luke thought a moment before chuckling, "Well I hate to say it but I'd almost expect the Fremen and Mandalorians would if only because if it came down to a fight, it would be a damn good one."

G0T0 made another buzz he often used to show he felt there was no longer any need to continue a certain line of thought or conversation.

Luke's chuckle died. The more he thought of it, the more it actually made warped sense. Both the Fremen tribes and the Mandalorians didn't like droids because they felt they made races depending on them, especially in battle, soft. Thus breaking the dependence on droids would not only force races to be more than they were, it would also create a potential enemy worth fighting against.

As silly as it had sounded at first, Luke realized that it might be a start in the right direction. And in his newly found sense of the Force, it felt right as well.

 **XxXxX**

 **A/N** : There are larger blocks of exposition in this chapter but sadly any time you start delving into philosophical points, it can't be avoided. I did make one change which I felt helped the pacing and even worked in that past/forward mode. I had originally had the Sietch Revan section before the Thunderer section. However I realized that I was following exposition with more exposition. Nope, got to have _some_ action in there somewhere. This section is probably the first where I'll come back to such that the time jump is hours/days and not years.

 **May the Fourth** : Yeah, well I missed it by a day; sue me!

 **Better Late Than Never** : So, FINALLY got to see _Rogue One_ (but at a theater w/$3 admission and access to beer because I live in a cool part of the PNW) – Not exactly sure how the movie is going to effect this story. Frankly I think by the time 00 BBY hits in this story, things will have changed far too much. I do see that Jedha might get involved because:

A. Luke is going to know from Revan that anything using kyber crystals for a power source is bad news and needs to be stopped.

B. Desert planet! What better protector of the Temple of the Whills than the Worms?

C. Vader and Thawn, for different reasons, are going to really put their foots down in opposition to the concept at least as it was seen in _Rogue One_.

Have to say, I really liked the film but only had one complaint and one minor quibble. For a SW film, I thought the music was weak. Of course I later found the composer only has 4.5 weeks instead of the usual year to complete it so what can you do? I've said many times that people of our generation have Star Wars music in our DNA and I got literal tears in my eyes just hearing it in the trailer for the next film. (Never mind how much the death of Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus had my crying but hey, I've got PTSD like issues so sue me)

My minor quibble is that _Rogue One_ did sort of invalidate the whole scene between Vader and Leia, " _Pull the other one, Princess; I literally saw this ship blast away from a rebel attack on an Imperial Base so you can shove your diplomatic immunity up your pretty white ass! Take her away!_ " Plus there is a big difference between plans being "transmitted" and "intercepted" and guy with a flash drive running into the ship before it escaped. But as I said, minor quibbles.

Mad props to that scene where Vader comes out of the darkness. I'm sure every rebel trooper shat himself before Vader whacked them. I did like how the HISHE comic video illustrated what I was thinking in that Vader almost seemed to be phoning it in (" _What up, noobs?_ ) while killing those men given for the likes of him it would have been " _all too easy_." (If you haven't watched that video, you really should; it's funny! The Wilhelm scream just sells it even more.)

Although I have wonder why Vader and those troopers weren't sucked out into space. Vader watching the Tantive IV fly off with his cape billowing was cool in all, but they were in ORBIT. I doubt there wasn't that much atmosphere at that level and thus the minute the Tantive IV left, it would have cause decompression in it's wake. Oh well, still an awesome scene.

 **The Galactic Map** : The Star Wars galactic map has evolved a lot over the years. Sadly, for my purposes, it mostly has to be thrown out. For one thing, it takes up too much of the galaxy. Old Earth and the Twelve Colonies would still be too close to the Star Wars action by even the more accurate, modern SW system maps. Also, they can be confusing as hell. I _**still**_ can't find where Lothal is on the best map I can find.

Also, a lot of the canonical Core Worlds are called that because they are in the core of the galaxy. However, if I remember my science programs right, the likelihood of advanced life being able to survive in that dense system environment is low because there are so many things going on like super-novas. Out among the spiral arms, things are a lot calmer and so you can get civilization rising up and not getting wiped out by some super-nova or pulsar every few millennia. It also means that the Cylons, have to take the long way around the Core. Which takes time, given that the Milky Way is 100,000 light years across. Even with hyperspace, it's going to take awhile, which is okay given they have been traveling for around 2,000 years or so. So instead of Core Words, I'll have Coreward Systems.

 **Names** : Again I'm just going with straight Arabic names for the Fremen with some small changes.

Lukas Starkiller: I'm sure most of you know how this was the prototype name for Luke in the original script. And yes I know that later there was an actual Starkiller character who obviously won't be showing up in this AU universe.

Alqatil: I thought it appropriate that HK and Vader would share a name!

Almaghfal: Simpleton or lunkhead. And Farok wonders why the droid picked up HK's penchant to referring to organics as meatbags?

Allat Fawrij: Most folks don't know that many early writings in both Christian and Islamic texts or in that era (and earlier) often speak of other beings or duality of a God and a Goddess. In Islamic texts, it was Allat or "The Lady" as Allah is "The Lord" - So my Fremen term for the Star Forge is pretty much the Forge of the Goddess.

Yuelin: As I said, it means herald. Also, while Luke doesn't like being called a prophet, others (especially droids) _did_ name him as one.

Nabi: Again, it means prophet. Found it interesting the Fremen word for chief (Naib) is similar to the Arabic nayib which means deputy.


End file.
